versity  of  California 
Southern  Regional 
Library  Facility 


THE 
SPANISH  GALLEON 


LIBRARY 


THE   SPANISH   GALLEON 


THE 


SPANISH   GALLEON 


BEING  AN  ACCOUNT 

OF 

A  SEARCH  FOR  SUNKEN  TREASURE  IN  THE 
CARIBBEAN  SEA 


BY 

CHARLES  SUMNER  SEELEY 


CHICAGO 

A.   C.  McCLURG  AND   COMPANY 
1891 


COPYRIGHT, 

BY   A.    C.    McCLURG  AND   CO. 

A.  D.  1891. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  THE  ISLAND 7 

II.  THE  FOOD  SUPPLY 17 

III.  HOUSE-BUILDING '.      .      .  28 

IV.  PiG-HUNTIXG 41 

V.  BOAT-BUILDING 53 

VI.  "DUKE   2D,  PROPERTY   OF   H.    SENLIS "       .  67 

VII.  THE  WATER-GLASS So 

VIII.  BREAD-MAKING 93 

IX.  THE  GALLEON  FOUND 105 

X.  THE  CASTAWAYS 116 

XI.  ALICE  AND  HER  FATHER 129 

XII.  THE  PROBLEM 143 

XIII.  THE  ABANDONED  PLANTATION  ....  153 

XIV.  A  REMARKABLE  CURE 166 

XV.  LOST  AND  FOUND 180 

XVI.  A  BAD  PORT 192 

XVII.  THE  WAVES  IN  HARNESS 204 


VI  *  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVIII.    EMBAYED 218 

XIX.    THE  PEARL-FISHERS 231 

XX.  THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GANG      ....  245 

XXI.    SELF-BETRAYED 259 

XXII.    THE  CAPTAIN'S  FATE 272 

XXIII.    TREASURE  TROVE 283 


THE   SPANISH   GALLEON. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   ISLAND. 

MY  name  is  William  Morgan,  and  I  am  a  lineal 
descendant  of  that  William  Morgan  who  was  a 
brother  of  the  famous  Welsh  buccaneer,  Henry  Morgan. 
I  mention  this  in  no  spirit  of  pride,  —  quite  the  contrary, 
—  but  because  some  may  choose  to  trace  in  these  ad- 
ventures evidence  of  hereditary  tendencies. 

On  the  eighteenth  day  of  August,  1886,  as  the  sun 
was  setting,  I  was  floating  in  the  Caribbean  Sea.  You 
may  mark  the  place  on  the  map  as  being  approximately 
N.  latitude  15°,  and  W.  longitude  62°  from  Greenwich; 
or  in  other  words,  between  one  hundred  and  two  hun- 
dred miles  west  of  the  French  island  of  Martinique.  A 
chest,  well  corded  but  partly  filled  with  water,  was  all 
that  kept  my  head  above  the  surface.  Without  food  or 
drink  I  had  been  floating  thus  since  shortly  after  sunrise 
of  the  previous  morning.  At  that  time  the  sloop  in 
which  I  was  voyaging,  capsized  and  sunk  in  a  squall, 
drowning  the  negro  captain  and  owner,  and  his  son,  who 
constituted  the  crew.  In  this  little  vessel  I  was  bound 
for  a  small  uninhabited  island  known  as  "  Key  Seven," 
which  was  in  plain  sight  when  the  disaster  occurred. 
For  two  days  and  a  night,  without  sleep  or  refreshment, 
I  had  been  struggling  to  push  the  floating  chest  toward 
this  land. 


8  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

Now  as  the  sun  was  just  about  to  sink  exactly  behind 
the  trees  on  the  island,  I  was  so  near  that  the  sound  of 
the  waves  on  the  beach  reached  my  ear.  The  tide 
would  soon  turn,  and  I  must  gain  a  foothold  on  the  sand 
before  the  ebb  got  fairly  under  way,  or  continue  the 
struggle  another  night.  My  hands  and  arms  were  sore 
in  places  from  chafing  in  the  salt  water  against  the  chest, 
every  muscle  ached,  cramps  and  pains  shot  incessantly 
through  every  limb,  my  eyes  were  on  fire,  the  wolf  of 
hunger  gnawed  at  my  stomach,  my  lips  and  mouth  and 
throat  were  parched  and  dry.  The  fever  of  utter  ex- 
haustion and  fatigue  drove  delirious  dreams  and  fancies 
through  my  aching  brain.  Still  on,  on,  on,  compelling 
the  unwilling  and  rebellious  muscles  to  their  automatic 
work,  made  sickening  to  the  very  soul  by  long  continued 
repetition,  I  fought  until  at  last  my  feet  rested  on  the 
bottom.  One  final  struggle  and  the  wave  left  me  with 
the  chest  upon  the  beach.  But  it  was  not  until  the  last 
ounce  of  energy  had  been  expended,  that  I  staggered 
and  fell  on  the  dry  sand  among  the  parched  bladder- 
weed  that  streaked  the  shore.  There  I  lay  for  half  an 
hour,  completely  exhausted. 

When  I  rose  to  secure  the  chest  by  dragging  it  a  little 
way  —  a  very  little  way  —  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
waves,  the  sun  had  just  sunk,  night  with  tropical  sud- 
denness had  fallen  on  the  scene,  and  the  stars  burst 
out  in  all  their  brilliancy  in  the  clear  dark  vault  of 
heaven. 

Here  then  I  was  at  last  at  the  end  of  my  voyage,  but 
in  what  a  plight.  Food  and  drink  and  sleep  I  must 
have,  and  that  speedily,  or  death  would  shortly  claim 
me.  It  was  starlight,  but  too  dark  to  see  more  than  the 
dim  outlines  of  things.  I  lay  down  again  on  the  warm 
dry  sand  and  tried  to  think  what  was  best  to  do ;  but 
I  could  not  think,  for  my  dry  tongue  rattled  in  my 


THE  ISLAND.  9 

mouth  and  my  head  ached  as  though  it  would  burst 
with  every  feeble  throb  of  the  heart. 

As  I  lay  with  my  face  turned  toward  the  sea,  listening 
in  despair  to  the  soft,  monotonous  lip-lipping  of  the 
waves,  varied  at  regular  intervals  by  the  long,  foaming 
crash  of  the  swell  as  it  broke  and  swept  up  the  sands, 
there  came  presently  in  the  eastern  sky  a  faint  silvery 
glow,  and  the  full  moon  stole  up  from  out  the  glistening 
water  until  it  shone  full  and  broad,  making  a  burnished 
path  down  to  the  shore  at  my  feet.  No  doubt,  this  saved 
my  life.  In  an  hour  it  was  almost  as  light  as  day.  I 
untied  my  shoes,  which  I  had  fastened  to  the  chest  while 
swimming,  put  them  on  to  guard  my  feet,  and  started  in 
search  of  drinking-water.  Fortunately  it  was  close  at 
hand.  A  little  brook  flowed  down  to  the  sea  not  more 
than  forty  rods  to  the  north  of  my  landing-place.  Had 
I  been  in  condition  to  remember  anything,  I  should  have 
known  this  fact,  because  while  floating  in  the  sea  I  noted 
this  stream  by  the  low  foliage  that  marked  its  course 
near  the  beach,  and  longed  for  a  draught  of  the  water 
which  I  knew  must  be  there.  Stumbling  along  the  sands, 
I  reached  the  stream,  and  lying  down,  buried  my  face  in 
the  clear,  sweet  water,  and  drank  until  I  could  drink  no 
more.  This  was  possibly  an  imprudent  thing  to  do. 
Indeed  it  was  followed  by  dreadful  nausea.  But  this  did 
not  hinder  me  from  taking  another  draught,  almost  as 
deep  as  the  first. 

He  who  has  not  experienced  real  thirst  can  never 
know  how  delicious  is  pure,  sweet  water,  taken  when 
every  fibre  and  pore  of  the  body  is  suffering  for  it. 
Each  capillary  and  duct  seemed  to  expand,  and  the 
heart  soon  began  to  beat  stronger  and  fuller  as  though 
under  the  lash  of  a  stimulant.  Though  I  had  fancied 
food  was  what  I  needed  most,  it  was  really  the  water 
that  my  system  demanded,  and  I  felt  at  once  so  much 


IO  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

stronger  and  better  that  a  desire  to  sleep  came  upon 
me,  the  fever  left  my  veins,  and  I  felt  as  though  I  could 
wait  until  morning  before  breaking  my  fast. 

On  the  way  back  to  the  chest  I  picked  up  half  a 
dozen  shell-fish  of  some  bivalve  species,  on  the  sands  at 
the  edge  of  the  surf,  and  ate  them.  They  tasted  sweet 
as  a  nut  to  me,  but  were  probably  of  little  nutritious 
value,  and  possibly  more  or  less  indigestible.  But  they 
brought  no  harm,  and  seemed  partly  to  fill  what  void 
the  water  had  left. 

At  the  landing-place  I  drew  and  rolled  the  chest  still 
farther  up  the  beach,  took  off  my  wet  clothing,  spread  it 
out  to  dry,  and  buried  my  body  in  the  warm  sand,  put- 
ting the  chest  between  me  and  the  gentle  wind  which 
was  breathing  steadily  and  softly  in  from  the  sea.  Ex- 
hausted as  I  was,  the  sense  of  bodily  rest  and  warmth 
was  delicious ;  but  as  is  apt  to  be  the  case  when  one  is 
over-fatigued,  sleep  did  not  come  to  my  eyelids.  I  was 
free  from  pain  with  the  exception  of  the  smarting  of  the 
raw  wounds  on  my  hands  and  arms,  and  lay  listening  to 
the  rustling  of  the  breeze,  the  sound  of  the  sea,  and  the 
lonesome  call  of  a  night  bird  or  a  small  animal  of  some 
sort  that  occasionally  broke  the  stillness. 

I  thought  over  my  desperate  situation ;  of  the  dis- 
astrous ending  of  the  voyage,  from  which  I  had  hoped 
so  much  ;  how  and  when,  if  ever,  I  could  get  off  the 
island  and  back  to  civilization  to  take  a  fresh  start,  —  for 
as  to  giving  up  the  great  object  of  the  expedition,  that 
thought  was  not  once  entertained  either  then  or  at  any 
other  time.  But  now  without  a  boat  or  the  many  neces- 
sary appliances  for  carrying  out  my  plans,  I  could  not 
hope  to  accomplish  that  object,  though  I  was  upon  the 
very  island  that  I  had  travelled  over  a  thousand  miles  to 
reach.  It  would  be  necessary  to  go  back  at  least  to 
Martinique,  if  not  to  New  York,  to  obtain  what  I  needed. 


THE  ISLAND.  II 

Diving  apparatus  is  not  to  be  found  everywhere.  Be- 
sides the  assistance  of  at  least  one  person  seemed  abso- 
lutely necessary,  and  here  I  was  alone.  Yes,  I  must 
somehow  go  back  and  start  over  again,  —  that  seemed 
clear.  But  how,  and  when  ?  These  questions  were  not 
easy  to  answer.  Should  I  be  able  even  to  obtain  food 
while  a  prisoner  here,  waiting  such  deliverance  as  chance 
might  bring? 

These  and  a  thousand  other  thoughts  passed  through 
my  mind  while  I  lay  looking  at  the  stars  as  they  paled 
before  the  silver  shield  of  the  moon.  I  thought  of  my 
plans  so  carefully  laid,  and  now,  at  least  for  the  time 
being,  so  utterly  defeated.  Thus  I  reviewed  mentally 
the  whole  history  of  the  enterprise  I  had  undertaken. 
And  perhaps  this  is  a  proper  place  to  give  the  reader  an 
account  of  what  he  will  doubtless  conceive  to  be  the 
wildest  scheme  that  ever  was  seriously  contemplated. 
Listen,  that  you  may  judge. 

On  my  twenty-first  birthday,  now  only  a  few  weeks 
past,  I  sailed  from  New  York  in  one  of  the  steamers 
plying  to  the  Windward  Islands,  bound  for  Martinique 
and  thence  by  country  sloop  to  Key  Seven,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  finding  a  Spanish  galleon  that  sank  in  the  open 
sea  near  that  island,  July  9,  1665,  after  a  bloody  battle 
with  two  vessels  commanded  by  the  buccaneer  Welsh- 
man, Captain  Henry  Morgan.  This  galleon  contained 
pieces  of  eight,  gold  and  silver  in  bars  and  plate,  and 
jewels,  to  the  value  of  over  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  It  had  lain  thus  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  as  I 
believed,  for  more  than  two  hundred  years.  To  find  this 
sunken  wreck  and  secure  the  treasure  was  the  object  of 
my  expedition.  How  I  succeeded  in  such  a  wild  un- 
dertaking will  appear  hereafter. 

Several  years  before,  while  I  was  at  college,  a  desul- 
tory course  of  reading  had  awakened  in  me  a  deep 


12  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

interest  in  the  early  printed  accounts  of  the  lawless 
buccaneers  and  maroons  who  infested  the  waters  and 
coasts  of  the  Caribbean  Sea,  besieged  and  sacked  the 
Spanish  forts  and  cities,  crossed  the  isthmus  of  Darien, 
and  followed  down  the  coast  of  South  America,  captur- 
ing the  vessels  and  laying  waste  the  towns  of  the  Span- 
iards. Bartholomew  Portuges,  Brasiliano,  John  Davis, 
Francis  Lolonois,  and  Henry  Morgan,  the  brother  of 
my  ancestor,  were  noted  leaders  of  these  buccaneering 
crews  and  armies.  Perhaps  the  last-named  adventurer, 
who  led  the  desperate  expedition  across  the  isthmus  and 
captured  the  fortified  city  of  Panama,  was  the  most  noted 
of  all,  as  he  was  also  not  the  least  cruel,  bloodthirsty, 
and  avaricious.  Fragmentary  accounts  by  various  au- 
thors, some  of  whom  were  actors  in  the  scenes  described, 
have  been  published  in  Dutch,  French,  Spanish,  and 
English.  So  far  as  I  could  do  so  I  had  sought  and 
studied  these  accounts.  A  translation  into  English, 
made  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  of  the  most  con- 
siderable Dutch  and  French  accounts  had  enabled  me 
to  absorb  them,  and  the  numerous  original  reports  of 
Spanish  officials  made  to  their  government,  and  which 
are  still  preserved  in  the  archives  at  Madrid,  were  ren- 
dered accessible  to  me  by  a  fortunate  circumstance. 

Many  years  ago  most  of  the  documents  bearing  upon 
the  history  of  America,  from  the  time  of  Columbus  down 
to  the  present  century,  had  been  collected  and  trans- 
cribed through  the  efforts  of  an  American  author  whose 
charming  histories  have  delighted  all  English  readers. 
This  mass  of  material  had  since  its  transcription  been 
made  use  of  by  many  others,  and  being  in  the  charge  of 
the  college  librarian,  I  obtained  access  to  it.  My  en- 
thusiasm may  be  imagined,  when  I  say  that  in  order  to 
consult  these  transcriptions  I  actually  learned  to  read 
Spanish.  It  was  in  one  of  these  papers  that  I  found  the 


THE  ISLAND.  13 

report  of  Don  Jo~>ef  Isabel  del  Velo  y  Campo,  admiral  of 
the  Spanish  fleet  and  at  the  time  in  command  of  the 
Spanish  galleon  La  Magdalen.  The  admiral  gave  a 
full  account  of  the  loss  of  this  galleon,  of  the  desperate 
battle,  of  the  tremendous  bravery  of  the  Spaniards  under 
his  command,  and  of  his  own  escape  with  two  others  by 
swimming  to  the  island  of  Trebucino  near  by.  The 
vessel  sank  about  a  mile  from  the  northern  extremity  of 
the  island,  bearing  a  little  east  of  north  from  the  point 
of  rocks.  The  report  was  accompanied  by  an  account 
of  the  cargo  on  board,  as  nearly  correct  as  his  memory 
and  knowledge  could  serve  him  to  give,  and  by  a  like 
statement  of  the  money  and  treasure  lost,  concluding 
with  a  pious  congratulation  that  if  lost  to  Spain  it  at 
least  had  not  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Morgan  and  his 
murderous  hereticos. 

At  the  time  of  reading  this  report,  it  was  to  me  a  mat- 
ter of  idle  wonder,  to  conjecture  whether  the  noble 
galleon  still  held  together  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and 
if  the  treasure  was  still  there ;  to  picture  the  many 
curious  things  that  possibly  lived  and  grew  near  the 
blackened  and  corroded  silver  and  the  untarnishable 
gold,  the  monsters  of  the  sea  that  swam  and  crept  over 
and  about  it,  the  seaweed,  the  sponge  and  the  coral, 
the  tides  and  the  currents  which  swept  by  it,  and 
the  drowned  sailors  and  cavaliers  whose  spirits  pos- 
sibly guarded  it  through  the  slow  ages  of  decay  and 
change. 

Although  I  had  looked  up  the  island  of  Trebucino 
on  the  old  charts,  and  had  identified  it  as  the  bit  of 
land  now  marked  "  Key  Seven  "  on  modern  maps,  yet 
at  that  time  I  had  no  thought  of  the  possibility  of  recov- 
ering the  treasure,  much  less  of  engaging  in  such  a  hair- 
brained  enterprise  myself.  It  was  not  until  long  after- 
ward that  the  idea  entered  my  mind  of  seeking  the 


14  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

treasure,  and  then  it  was  suggested  by  a  serious  misfor- 
tune that  befell  me. 

Both  my  parents  were  dead,  and  I  had  no  living  rela- 
tives nearer  than  an  uncle,  my  mother's  brother,  who 
was  my  guardian,  and  who  from  time  to  time  sent  me 
money  as  I  needed  it.  When  my  father  died  he  left  his 
estate,  consisting  of  valuable  farming  lands  in  the  beau- 
tiful Mohawk  valley,  heavily  encumbered  with  debt.  The 
money  sent  me  for  expenses  at  college  came  from  a 
small  property  that  had  belonged  to  my  mother.  I  had 
always  looked  forward  to  the  day  when,  free  from  school 
life,  I  could  undertake  the  management  and  control  of 
my  father's  farms,  and  return  to  live  at  the  home  farm, 
where  I  was  born  and  where  my  early  boyhood  days 
were  passed.  The  old  Dutch-built  brick  house  with  its 
noble  elms,  the  brook  that  ran  through  the  meadow,  so 
near  that  its  murmur  could  be  heard  on  still  summer 
nights  from  my  open  bedroom  window,  the  broad  fields 
stretching  up  and  down  the  valley  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  the  thousand  acres  under  cultivation,  and 
the  thousand  more  of  woodland  and  pasture,  the  sleek 
herds,  the  dairy,  and  all  the  joys  of  a  farmer's  life,  made 
up  the  picture  which  was  ever  in  my  mind.  To  live 
this  life  had  been  my  ambition,  and  I  had  tolerated  school 
only  because  I  was  told  it  would  better  fit  me  for  the 
work. 

But  all  my  hopes  were  suddenly  dashed  by  a  letter 
from  my  uncle  advising  me  to  be  economical  and  saving 
with  my  money,  as  there  was  only  seven  hundred  dollars 
left  of  the  fund  devoted  to  my  education,  and  the  whole 
of  which  he  would  in  six  months  turn  over  to  me  in  one 
sum.  He  told  me  I  was  now  old  enough  to  be  in- 
formed of  my  exact  prospects.  It  was  better,  he  said, 
I  should  know  that  my  father's  estate  would  not  sell  for 
nearly  enough  to  clear  the  mortgages  on  it,  that  it  would 


THE  ISLAND.  15 

require  at  least  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  meet  and 
pay  a  debt  due  in  three  years.  He  offered  to  manage  the 
property  for  me  up  to  that  time  ;  but  warned  me  that  I 
could  hope  to  realize  but  little  from  it,  and  that  it  would 
then  have  to  go  under  the  hammer.  By  this  sad  and 
unexpected  news,  my  prospects  in  life  were  wholly 
changed.  The  thought  of  losing  my  old  home  and  all 
the  familiar  surroundings  was  so  dismal  and  distressing 
that  I  had  no  heart  left  to  finish  my  college  work.  Could 
I  not  somehow  get  the  necessary  money  to  redeem  the 
property  ?  This  thought  came  to  me  over  and  over. 
To  get  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  the  short  space  of 
three  years  !  Alas  !  the  accomplishment  of  such  a  feat 
must  involve  some  extraordinary  circumstances  as  well 
as  great  good-fortune.  It  was  while  thus  cudgelling  my 
brains  in  despair,  that  the  idea  of  the  Spanish  galleon 
recurred  to  me.  After  weighing  the  whole  matter  coolly, 
and  without  any  enthusiasm  or  prejudice^  I  concluded 
that  there  was  a  bare  chance  of  raising  this  sunken 
treasure  from  the  sea.  I  resolved  to  take  that  remote 
chance,  and  to  spend  my  money  and  the  three  years,  if 
necessary,  in  the  endeavor. 

It  would  be  six  months  before  I  could  get  the  seven 
hundred  dollars  that  remained  to  me.  This  period  I 
spent  in  planning  and  studying  the  enterprise,  and  in 
such  physical  preparation  as  I  was  able  to  make.  Every 
day  I  visited  the  natatorium  and  gymnasium  to  practise 
swimming  and  to  train  and  develop  the  muscles;  so 
that  when  the  six  months  had  passed  I  was  an  expert 
swimmer  and  diver  and  my  muscles  were  hard  as  steel. 
The  money  came  duly  to  hand,  and  I  left  college  at 
once  for  New  York  City. 

There,  after  writing  to  my  uncle  that  I  was  about  to 
go  on  a  voyage  that  might  last  three  years,  and  bidding 
him  an  affectionate  farewell,  I  bought  such  articles  and 


1 6  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

appliances  as  I  had  determined  would  be  necessary,  and 
took  passage  for  Martinique  with  exactly  two  hundred 
dollars  in  my  pocket. 

Then  came,  as  we  have  seen,  the  wreck  of  the  sloop, 
the  drowning  of  my  negro  assistants,  and  my  long 
struggle  in  the  sea. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE    FOOD   SUPPLY. 

'  I  "HE  sun  was  well  up  the  eastern  sky  when  I  awoke 
X  in  the  morning,  so  numb  and  stiff  that  I  could 
with  difficulty  unbury  myself  from  the  sand,  the  weight 
of  which  had  almost  stopped  the  circulation  in  some 
parts  of  the  body.  My  clothing,  which  I  had  spread 
on  the  sand,  had  completely  dried.  After  some  chaf- 
ing and  rubbing  I  dressed  myself  and  felt  more  comfort- 
able than  at  any  time  since  the  loss  of  the  sloop.  The 
first  thing  to  do  was  to  get  something  to  eat.  I  walked 
to  the  brook,  bathed  my  face,  and  took  a  long  drink  of 
water,  and  began  to  be  more  and  more  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  the  diet  was  thin.  There  were  a  number  of  co- 
coanut  palms  near  by,  growing  within  a  few  rods  of  the 
sea,  and  plenty  of  nuts  on  them,  as  could  be  plainly  seen. 
But  though  I  searched  the  ground  with  hungry  glance 
I  could  find  only  one  nut  that  had  not  been  operated 
on  by  the  land  crabs,  which  are  able  in  an  ingenious 
manner  to  extract  the  contents  through  the  three  little 
eyes  or  holes  in  the  shell.  This  one  nut,  the  exterior 
husk  of  which  had  not  been  disturbed,  I  broke  open  by 
pounding  it  upon  a  rock,  and  found  it  to  my  bitter  dis- 
appointment blackened,  rancid,  and  quite  unfit  for 
food. 

I  had  noticed  a  flock  of  gulls,  or  some  species  of 
shore  birds,  wheeling  about  and  lighting  and  running  on 
the  beach  near  by.  With  a  shotgun  it  would  have 
been  an  easy  matter  to  creep  near  and  bag  half  a  dozen 

2 


1 8  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

at  a  shot.  I  watched  them  a  little  while  and  concluded 
that  though  it  might  prove  a  tough  and  unpalatable  dish 
I  must  have  one,  or  starve.  It  would  be  a  good  plan,  I 
thought,  to  gather  a  dozen  pebbles  weighing  three  or 
four  ounces  apiece  and  try  the  effect  of  a  shot  into  the 
thick  of  the  flock  from  as  near  a  point  as  I  could  reach. 
But  as  there  would  be  no  chance  for  more  than  one 
trial,  I  determined  to  fire  the  stones  in  a  volley.  To  do 
this  effectively  I  gathered  some  tough  reeds  and  tied 
one  to  each  stone  until  I  had  half  a  dozen  stones  so 
provided.  By  swinging  these  missiles  at  the  end  of  the 
reeds  they  could  be  thrown  a  considerable  distance  with 
great  velocity. 

Trembling  with  expectation  and  excitement,  I  crept 
down  toward  the  flock,  keeping  out  of  sight  behind  some 
rocks  until  I  was  as  near  as  it  was  possible  to  go,  when 
I  let  fly  my  volley  of  improvised  slung-shots  as  well  as 
I  could  direct  them  into  the  thickest  of  the  birds.  Run- 
ning forward  immediately,  I  found  two  lying  on  the  sand 
struggling.  One  was  hit  squarely  on  the  wing  with  a 
stone,  and  the  other  had  a  reed  wound  once  around  its 
neck.  I  secured  both  and  wrung  their  necks.  The 
idea  at  once  occurred  to  me  that  the  next  time  I  had 
occasion  to  hunt  gulls,  I  would  contrive  a  bolas  by  ty- 
ing a  stone  to  each  end  of  a  cord ;  it  seemed  to  me 
that  this  would  prove  even  a  more  effectual  instrument 
of  destruction  than  the  sling  volley,  as  it  would  be 
almost  certain  to  entangle  one  or  more  of  the  flock. 

These  birds  were  nearly  as  large  as  a  guillemot,  but 
of  what  species  I  do  not  know.  As  I  had  no  fire  to 
cook  with,  I  immediately  ate  one  of  them  raw.  The 
other  I  cut  into  strips  and  shreds  and  laid  them  on  a 
rock  in  the  hot  sun  to  dry.  The  experience  of  eating  a 
raw  unseasoned  gull  was  such  as  to  turn  my  thoughts 
forcibly  to  the  necessity  of  some  means  for  procuring 


THE  FOOD  SUPPLY.  1 9 

both  fire  and  salt.  The  salt  would  not  be  difficult  to 
obtain,  for  if  it  could  not  be  found  somewhere  along  the 
shore  or  in  the  salt  marsh  near  by,  it  would  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  make  some  sort  of  a  salt  pan  provided  I  could 
find  clay  or  other  impermeable  soil  with  which  to  con- 
fine a  shallow  pool  of  sea  water  somewhere  in  the  sun- 
shine. The  evaporation  would  speedily  give  the  small 
quantity  I  should  require. 

In  my  vest  pocket  was  a  small  metal  match-box  half 
full  of  matches,  such  as  every  smoker  carries.  But  on 
examination  it  proved,  as  might  be  expected,  that  all 
the  matches  were  wet  and  useless.  Nevertheless  when 
I  got  back  to  the  landing-place,  I  laid  them  carefully 
out  in  the  sun  on  a  stone  to  dry,  thinking  that  possibly 
one  of  them  might  be  made  to  light. 

I  now  turned  my  attention  to  the  chest.  This  chest 
was  one  of  four  that  contained  my  baggage  ;  but  which 
one  of  the  four,  or  what  this  particular  one  contained, 
I  could  not  conjecture.  So  I  set  about  untying  the 
rope  wound  around  it,  and  soon  had  it  free.  There 
was  fully  forty  feet  of  strong  hempen  halyard  stuff  in 
the  line,  and  this  in  itself  was  a  possession  of  value. 
The  bunch  of  keys  in  my  pocket  enabled  me  without 
trouble  to  open  the  lock.  When  I  raised  the  lid  I 
found  to  my  bitter  disappointment  that  the  chest  con- 
tained those  articles  which  would  be  of  least  value  to 
me  under  the  present  circumstances.  The  contents 
consisted  chiefly  of  books,  stationery,  sketching  appli- 
ances, drawing  tools  and  materials,  and  a  photographic 
camera  and  outfit.  Everything  was,  of  course,  soaked 
with  water,  and  I  hardly  had  the  heart  to  take  the  things 
out  to  dry.  The  books  and  paper,  as  well  as  the  photo- 
graphic plates,  were  in  a  sad  condition.  The  bellows  of 
the  camera  came  to  pieces.  I  spread  out  the  contents 
of  the  chest  on  the  hot  sand  to  dry,  putting  stones  on 


2O  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

such  things  as  might  blow  away  when  they  became  dried. 
The  lens  of  the  camera  I  unscrewed,  intending  to  use  it 
as  a  burning-glass  to  start  a  fire,  so  that  there  might  be 
no  further  need  to  eat  raw  gull.  The  burning-glass, 
which  was  of  priceless  value  to  me,  and  the  rope  were 
practically  all  the  chest  yielded  that  could  be  put  to  use, 
as  I  then  supposed.  The  chest  itself  would  of  course 
be  useful  to  me. 

Eager  to  try  the  burning-glass,  I  collected  some  dry 
branches,  leaves,  and  other  fuel.  In  a  ball  or  nest  of 
dry  grass,  of  the  size  of  my  two  fists.  I  placed  a  little 
bunch  of  silky  seed  fibres  collected  from  a  weed.  Upon 
this  fibre  I  brought  to  bear  the  focus  of  the  lens,  con- 
centrating the  sun's  rays  to  an  intense  white  spot,  which 
almost  immediately  began  to  smoke  with  the  heat. 
Presently  the  material  commenced  to  burn,  and  I 
whirled  the  ball  rapidly  around  through  the  air,  where- 
upon the  whole  burst  into  a  flame,  which  being  placed 
among  the  fuel  was  speedily  a  roaring  fire.  In  this 
manner  I  obtained  fire  as  long  as  I  remained  on  the 
island.  As  a  mere  matter  of  curiosity  I  tried  some  of 
the  matches  which  had  been  laid  out  so  carefully  to  dry, 
but,  as  might  have  been  expected,  not  a  single  one  would 
light.  It  was  very  fortunate,  therefore,  that  I  had  the 
lens,  as  otherwise  I  should  have  been  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  rubbing  sticks  together  in  the  manner  of  the 
savages,  and  probably  without  being  able  to  get  fire  as 
they  are  said  to  do.  Of  course  I  did  not  need  the  fire 
to  keep  me  warm,  for  the  air  was  excessively  hot.  But 
it  seemed  so  like  a  new-found  friend  that  I  built  it 
high,  and  when  there  was  a  mass  of  embers,  carefully 
covered  them  with  sand  and  ashes  that  they  might  last 
and  be  ready  for  future  use. 

It  was  now  nearly  noon  and  my  stomach  became 
more  clamorous  than  ever.  I  therefore  cooked  and  ate 


THE  FOOD  SUPPLY.  21 

the  flesh  of  the  other  gull,  which  had  been  laid  on  the 
rocks  to  be  cured.  Although  the  flies  had  begun  to  at- 
tack the  meat,  it  was,  as  yet,  in  no  wise  tainted,  nor 
very  dry.  By  dipping  *he  pieces  into  the  sea  water  I 
gave  it,  as  I  fancied,  a  perceptible  flavor  of  salt.  At  any 
rate,  though  tough  and  a  little  rank  in  flavor,  it  tasted 
good  enough  and  my  only  regret  was  that  there  was  not 
more  of  it.  I  could  perceive  the  gulls  in  great  numbers 
flying  about  out  at  sea,  but  none  on  the  shore,  and  con- 
cluded that  they  came  to  the  land  only  at  certain  stages 
of  the  tide,  —  probably  at  low  tide,  when  their  food 
would  be  exposed. 

Determined  to  lay  in  a  store  of  provisions,  I  next 
turned  my  attention  to  the  cocoanut  palms  and  made 
another  search  for  fallen  nuts,  but  without  any  success, 
though  I  sought  the  whole  length  of  the  beach  beneath 
the  trees.  It  became  quite  evident  that  to  get  the  nuts 
I  should  have  to  climb  for  them.  As  the  nut-bearing 
trees  were  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  feet  high,  without  a 
branch  on  their  cylindrical  stems  from  the  base  up  to 
the  feathery  crown,  the  climb  was  likely  to  prove  a  dif- 
ficult if  not  a  dangerous  task.  However,  selecting  a 
palm  with  plenty  of  nuts  on  it,  I  made  the  attempt  to 
"  shin  "  —  as  the  sailors  call  it,  —  up  the  stem.  It  was 
hard  work,  and  the  heat  was  so  oppressive  that  I  had  to 
stop  several  times  and  rest  on  the  way  up  and  was  very 
glad  when  I  found  myself  at  the  top.  I  broke  off  and 
threw  down  a  score  of  the  nuts  in  all  stages  of  ripeness, 
and  then  descended  in  safety. 

The  fruit  of  the  cocoanut  palm  grows  in  clusters  of  a 
dozen  to  twenty  nuts  in  each  bunch,  which  hang  imme- 
diately under  the  crown  of  leaves.  Upon  the  trees  they 
by  no  means  present  the  globular  hard-shelled  appear- 
ance which  is  familiar  to  our  eyes.  Each  nut  is  encased 
in  a  thick  fibrous  rind  or  husk ;  exteriorly  this  husk  is 


22  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

of  a  sub-triangular  form,  about  twelve  inches  long  and 
six  inches  broad.  Of  the  fibre  of  this  exterior  husk  the 
well-known  cocoanut  matting  is  made,  and  also  the 
coarse  yarn  called  coir ;  it  is  ilso  used  for  cordage. 

I  carried  the  nuts  to  a  shady  place  and  stripped  off 
the  husk  by  means  of  a  pointed  piece  of  rock  set  up- 
right in  the  ground.  The  smaller  ones  not  yet  entirely 
ripe  were  full  of  a  sweet  liquid,  and  the  meat  was  soft 
enough  to  have  been  scooped  out  with  a  spoon ;  the 
older  ones  were  also  very  good,  not  nearly  so  dry  and 
hard  as  we  find  them  in  our  northern  markets.  For  the 
first  time  since  the  shipwreck  I  ate  until  my  hunger  was 
fully  appeased.  What  the  result  of  a  long-continued 
diet  upon  such  food  would  be  I  could  not  of  course 
forecast,  but  it  seemed  probable  that  I  need  not  starve 
while  the  nuts  were  plentiful.  Those  which  were  left 
from  this  meal  I  carried  to  the  landing-place  and  laid 
them  on  the  chest,  where  the  land  crabs  would  probably 
not  get  at  them. 

With  this  ample  supply  of  food,  presumably  nutritious 
and  certainly  quite  palatable,  my  anxiety  was  greatly 
relieved.  Animal  food  I  could  probably  obtain  from 
time  to  time  as  the  island  appeared  to  abound  with  birds 
of  various  kinds,  if  I  could  have  time  to  contrive  some 
method  of  ensnaring  or  killing  them.  Then  too  there 
were  doubtless  fish  to  be  caught,  and  probably  turtle.  In 
some  of  the  islands,  I  knew,  there  were  wild  pigs,  as  it  was 
a  common  thing  for  the  people  of  Martinique  to  come 
to  these  small  isolated  islands  on  pig-hunting  expedi- 
tions. I  sincerely  hoped  that  these  animals  might  be 
found  on  Key  Seven  ;  for  I  felt  quite  confident  of  my 
ability  to  think  of  some  plan  for  killing  or  capturing 
them.  But  there  was  no  immediate  need  to  go  fishing 
or  hunting  for  birds  or  pigs. 

I  determined  to  find,  if  possible,  some  means  of  get- 


THE  FOOD  SUPPLY.  2$ 

ting  a  supply  of  salt  before  I  sought  for  flesh  food  of  any 
kind.  With  this  end  in  view,  as  the  afternoon  was  still 
young,  I  began  looking  about  for  a  suitable  place  to 
serve  as  a  salt  pan.  I  walked  along  the  beach  for  a  mile 
each  way,  but  could  find  no  suitable  spot.  The  require- 
ments were  a  shallow  basin  near  the  sea,  with  the  bottom 
impervious  to  water,  which  should  hold  in  a  shallow 
depth  at  least  five  or  ten  barrels  of  water.  There  was 
plenty  of  rock  of  a  coralline  limestone  variety,  and  an 
abundance  of  shells ;  and  the  idea  occurred  to  me  that 
I  might  burn  a  supply  of  lime  and  thus  make  a  mortar 
or  cement  of  slaked  lime  and  sand.  With  this  material 
it  would  be  possible  to  construct  just  above  high-water 
mark  such  a  pan  or  cavity  as  I  desired.  If  I  used  shells 
to  make  the  lime,  there  would  probably  be  no  need  of 
erecting  a  kiln,  as  heat  enough  could  be  attained  in  a 
large  open  fire,  by  building  it  of  several  alternate  layers 
of  dry  wood  and  shells. 

I  immediately  set  about  collecting  shells  with  which 
the  beach  was  most  plentifully  strewn  in  all  directions. 
As  I  had  nothing  in  which  to  carry  them,  I  adopted  the 
expedient  of  throwing  them  one  at  a  time  into  heaps. 
This  was  very  hard  and  fatiguing  work,  and  it  was  four 
o'clock  or  later  in  the  afternoon  before  I  had  gathered 
into  about  twenty  different  heaps  the  four  or  five  bushels 
of  shells  which  I  thought  enough  for  a  burning.  It  still 
remained  for  me  to  collect  the  scattered  heaps  together, 
and  gather  the  wood  for  fuel. 

But  it  was  high  time  now  to  stop  work  and  prepare 
for  the  night.  Some  sort  of  sleeping-place  must  be 
contrived  in  the  two  or  three  hours  of  daylight  that 
remained,  for  I  had  no  fancy  to  try  again  the  sort  of 
couch  I  had  last  slept  in.  I  went  to  the  stream  and 
drank  a  good  draught  of  water,  a  welcome  refreshment 
after  my  exertion  in  the  hot  sun.  I  then  gathered  a 


24  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

quantity  of  dry  grass  for  a  bed  and  carried  it  down  to 
the  sand  near  the  landing-place,  which  seemed  a  sort  of 
home  to  me,  although  I  had  resolved  speedily  thereafter 
to  move  my  property  nearer  to  the  brook.  The  con- 
tents of  the  chest  were  now  dry  excepting  the  books, 
which  presented  a  sad  appearance.  I  gathered  all  of 
these  things  together  and  covered  them  up  as  well  as  I 
could  with  the  focussing-cloth  that  belonged  to  the 
camera,  piling  stones  around  the  edge  to  secure  it.  The 
empty  chest  I  turned  up  on  its  side,  hinges  uppermost, 
and  propped  up  the  lid  in  a  nearly  horizontal  position. 
This  would  afford  me  shelter  for  the  upper  portion  of  the 
body.  Under  the  shelter  thus  improvised  I  piled  the 
dry  grass  for  a  couch,  and  my  sleeping-place  was  ready. 
I  then  gathered  a  fresh  supply  of  fuel  and  built  up  a  fire 
on  the  landward,  which  would  presently  be  the  leeward 
side  of  my  shelter. 

By  the  time  these  arrangements  were  all  complete,  the 
sun  was  setting.  Tired  out,  I  lay  down  and  watched  the 
fire,  thinking  over  my  situation  and  planning  what  to  do 
and  how  to  do  it.  No  doubt,  sooner  or  later  some  vessel 
would  pass  in  sight  or  land  on  the  island  and  take  me 
off.  It  was  not  as  though  I  were  on  a  remote  or  inac- 
cessible place ;  the  native  sloops  and  small  vessels  oc- 
casionally visited  these  islands  for  wood  or  turtle,  or  on 
pig-hunting  expeditions,  and  I  fancied  it  would  not  be 
long  before  an  opportunity  offered  for  my  escape.  In 
the  meantime,  while  thus  a  prisoner,  be  the  time  long  or 
short,  it  would  be  necessary  to  keep  up  my  health  and 
strength.  For  this  purpose  food  and  shelter  were  neces- 
sary, and  occupation,  too,  that  I  might  not  brood  over 
my  situation  and  worry  at  the  delay  in  my  plans. 
There  was  likely  to  be  plenty  of  occupation,  however,  in 
providing  myself  with  the  bare  necessities  of  life.  If 
there  should  be  any  spare  time  on  my  hands  I  would 


THE  FOOD  SUPPLY.  2$ 

devote  it  to  the  construction  of  a  boat,  a  raft,  or  a  vessel 
of  some  other  sort,  with  which  to  get  away.  But  with 
only  a  pocket  knife  how  could  I  expect  ever  to  build  a 
boat  capable  of  navigating  more  than  a  hundred  miles  of 
sea?  How  could  I  carry  fresh  water  enough  to  last 
during  the  voyage? 

These  problems  were  indeed  difficult  of  solution.  I 
ran  over  in  my  mind,  as  far  as  I  could  recollect  them, 
all  the  different  kinds  of  boats,  canoes,  kayaks,  etc., 
known  to  primitive  man.  There  was  the  ancient  coracle, 
used  by  the  old  Britons,  woven  in  basket  fashion  from 
willows  and  coated  with  clay  or  lined  with  a  hide,  —  a 
thing  good  enough  in  an  emergency  to  ferry  one  over 
a  stream,  but  utterly  useless  to  me.  There  was  the 
canoe  or  pirogue,  hollowed  from  a  single  tree -trunk,  — 
called  also  the  dugout.  Possibly  by  the  aid  of  fire  I 
might  with  patience  construct  such  a  thing  by  months 
of  hard  work  ;  and  by  adding  an  outrigger  log  or  float, 
after  the  manner  of  the  South-Sea  islanders,  such  a 
canoe  could  possibly  be  rendered  capable  of  navigating 
the  sea  in  favorable  weather.  Then  again  there  was  the 
whole  class  of  skin  boats  such  as  the  Esquimaux  use ; 
the  Greenlander's  kayak  made  of  skins  stretched  over  a 
framework,  and  "  decked  over  "  like  a  modern  canoe. 
But  how  could  I  build  a  boat  without  tools  to  work 
with  ? 

I  lay  thus  for  an  hour  or  two  watching  the  embers 
and  thinking  over  one  plan  after  another,  until  I  felt  in- 
clined to  sleep.  When  I  turned  over  with  my  back  to 
the  fire,  I  could  see  along  the  beach  where  the  moon- 
light glinted  and  sparkled  on  the  sand  and  shells  and 
pebbles,  tinging  each  wave  with  liquid  silver,  as  it  ran 
up  in  graceful  curves  upon  the  sand. 

I  was  looking  on  this  scene  of  magic  beauty  with  the 
soft  fingers  of  sleep  just  ready  to  press  down  my  eyelids 


26  THE  SPANISH  GALLEOW. 

when  I  saw  what  I  thought  was  a  rock  just  in  the  wash 
of  the  breakers,  begin  slowly  to  move.  Was  this  a  fancy 
or  was  it  a  fact? 

I  roused  myself  and  watched  the  object  intently. 
Yes,  it  was  slowly  moving  out  of  the  water  upon  the 
sand.  I  realized  instantly  that  it  was  a  turtle  making 
for  the  sand  in  order  to  lay  her  eggs.  Here  was  a  good 
supply  of  meat  which  could  be  kept  an  indefinite  time, 
to  be  obtained  by  the  simple  process  of  turning  the 
creature  on  its  back. 

I  watched  the  creature  crawl  slowly  up  in  the  moon- 
light until  it  was  four  or  five  rods  from  the  water,  and 
waited  a  minute  to  see  if  it  would  go  further.  Then  I 
quietly  reached  for  a  piece  of  wood  which  might  be 
used  as  a  lever  to  help  me  turn  it  over,  and  ran  as 
swiftly  as  I  could  for  about  three  hundred  yards  so  as  to 
get  between  it  and  the  sea.  But  the  turtle  did  not  seem 
to  comprehend  the  situation,  at  least  it  did  not  move 
until  I  ran  close  up  to  it  and  thrust  the  stick  beneath 
it.  Then  it  began  to  walk  away,  and  as  it  did  so  it  rose 
up  on  its  fins  to  such  a  height  that  my  lever  slipped  and 
turned,  and  I  could  get  no  purchase  on  it.  I  immedi- 
ately made  up  my  mind  that  turtle  are  not  to  be  turned 
with  a  lever.  So  dropping  the  stick,  I  seized  the  shell 
with  both  hands  and  with  a  mighty  effort  heaved  the 
creature  over  on  its  back  as  skilfully  as  though  I  had 
been  a  veteran  turtle-turner. 

As  soon  as  I  had  regained  my  breath.  I  scraped  away 
the  stones  and  sand  until  there  was  a  level  space  around 
the  turtle,  so  that  it  could  not  possibly  work  itself  over 
again,  and  then  contemplated  my  prize.  It  was  a  mag- 
nificent specimen  of  the  hawk's-bill  variety  of  sea  turtle, 
and  would  doubtless  weigh  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds.  Visions  of  turtle  soup  and  steaks  floated 
through  my  mind.  But  I  could  not  afford  to  kill  this 


THE  FOOD  SUPPLY,  2J 

great  creature  until  I  had  salt  with  which  to  preserve  the 
meat ;  otherwise  I  could  not  hope  to  consume  a  tenth 
of  it  before  it  would  spoil. 

Quite  content  with  this  piece  of  good-luck,  I  returned 
to  my  shelter  and,  lying  down,  kept  watch  for  another 
such  prize  ;  but  none  came,  and  after  an  hour  or  two  my 
eyelids  grew  heavy  again,  —  and  the  glitter  of  the  moon- 
light on  the  sand,  and  the  ceaseless  motion  of  the  waves, 
seemed  to  mingle  together  in  a  swimming  confusion, 
until  I  lost  myself  and  the  moonlit  waves  and  shore  to- 
gether in  a  dreamless  sleep. 


CHAPTER  III. 

HOUSE-BUILDING. 

BRIGHT  and  early  the  next  morning  I  awoke  to 
what  I  felt  must  be  a  busy  day.  A  plunge  in  the 
sea,  a  good  bath  in  the  brook,  and  a  frugal  breakfast  of 
cocoanuts  consumed  but  a  few  minutes  of  the  time, 
which,  being  now  practically  my  sole  capital,  must  be  ex- 
pended with  due  regard  to  economy.  The  turtle  was 
lying  safe  on  its  back,  and  as  the  sun  would  soon  be 
very  hot,  my  first  care  was  to  break  off  some  shrubs  and 
erect  a  shade  for  the  creature.  I  should  have  been  glad 
to  pour  a  few  buckets  of  sea  water  over  it,  but  buckets 
were  not  among  my  present  conveniences. 

The  first  work  on  hand  was  of  course  the  lime-burn- 
ing. I  found  a  great  piece  of  bark,  which  I  loosened 
from  a  fallen  and  partially  decayed  log,  and  used  as  a 
sort  of  tray  on  which  to  carry  the  separate  heaps  of 
shells  to  the  spot  where  the  burning  was  to  be  done. 
To  economize  time  and  labor,  I  concluded  to  burn  the 
lime  at  the  spot  where  I  should  subsequently  want  it. 
I  selected  for  this  purpose  a  flat  piece  of  smooth  sand 
free  of  stones  and  just  above  high  tide,  where  the  waves 
could  not  in  ordinary  weather  wash  into  it.  With  my 
hands  and  pieces  of  bark  I  scooped  out  a  basin  about 
ten  feet  square  and  a  foot  in  depth,  throwing  the  sand 
up  all  around  in  a  low  bank.  In  this  basin  I  piled  dry 
wood  and  the  shells  in  layers  until  the  pile  was  five  or 
six  feet  high. 

This  took  me  until  noon,  working  hard  every  minute, 
with  the  perspiration  streaming  from  every  pore.  Then 


HOUSE-BUILDING.  29 

I  discovered  that  my  fire  was  out.  But  I  had  no  trouble 
to  start  another  with  the  burning-glass,  as  the  sun  was 
shining  fiercely  and  so  directly  overhead  that  I  had  to 
search  for  my  shadow.  Presently  the  great  flames  were 
roaring  and  leaping  high  in  the  air  and  casting  out  such 
a  heat  that  I  was  glad  to  retire  to  the  brook  for  a  drink 
and  a  cocoanut  lunch  while  waiting  for  the  fuel  to  burn 
out. 

As  I  rested  in  the  shade,  I  employed  myself  in  twist- 
ing or  rudely  spinning  some  cord  out  of  the  fibre  of  the 
cocoanut  husks.  I  first  pounded  the  husk  between  two 
stones  until  the  fibre  was  reduced  to  a  mass  resembling 
coarse  hemp,  and  then  began  to  draw  it  out  and  twist  it 
as  one  twists  a  hay  band,  only  into  a  slenderer  thread. 
As  fast  as  it  became  twisted,  I  wound  the  thread  on  a 
short  stick  about  six  inches  long  and  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  in  diameter.  With  the  cord  wound  smoothly  on 
this  stick,  and  a  half-hitch  taken  around  one  end,  I 
could  roll  the  cord  and  stick  between  my  hand  and  leg 
to  give  the  twist  necessary  for  the  spinning  operation, 
and  at  the  same  time  use  the  other  hand  to  manipulate 
the  entangling  fibres.  By  this  simple  process  it  was  pos- 
sible to  produce  the  thread,  or  coir,  quite  rapidly. 

In  about  an  hour  and  a  half  my  great  fire  was  burned 
to  the  ground,  and  as  a  result  there  lay  in  the  shallow 
excavation  a  mingled  mass  of  embers,  ashes,  lime,  frag- 
ments of  partly  burned  shells,  wood,  and  charcoal.  Of 
course  the  ground  beneath  was  very  hot,  and  I  could 
not  work  among  the  embers  and  hot  fragments.  The 
tide  was  now  beginning  to  come  in,  and  I  dug  a  trench 
from  the  pit  to  the  sea,  through  which  the  water  flowed 
till  it  quenched  the  fire  and  slaked  the  lime,  and  partly 
sinking  in  the  porous  sand,  left  a  muddy  compound  of 
lime,  ashes,  and  sand,  all  over  the  bottom  of  the  pit.  I 
filled  and  plastered  up  the  trench  except  a  narrow  gate- 


30  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

way,  cleaned  out  the  sticks  and  fragments,  and  sprinkled 
dry  sand  over  the  mud,  raking  it  well  in  and  smoothing 
the  surface  as  much  as  possible  with  the  aid  of  sticks 
and  a  great  clam-shell.  It  now  remained  for  me  only  to 
let  the  cement  or  mortar  set  and  dry,  and  then,  I  hoped, 
it  would  prove  impervious  to  water. 

There  were  still  some  hours  of  daylight,  which  could 
not  be  better  employed,  I  thought,  than  upon  the  con- 
struction of  some  better  shelter  than  the  upturned  chest 
had  afforded.  All  day  I  had  been  turning  over  in  my 
mind  a  plan  for  a  hut  or  shanty  that  I  fancied  might  be 
quickly  and  easily  built.  There  was  no  telling  how  long 
the  fair  weather,  which  had  now  lasted  for  several  days, 
might  continue,  and  the  utter  wretchedness  of  existence 
if  a  storm  should  find  me  without  a  shelter  was  not  to 
be  patiently  contemplated. 

In  gathering  fuel  near  the  edge  of  the  forest  I  had 
noticed  a  great  quantity  of  dead  stalks  standing  six  or 
seven  feet  high,  straight  as  an  arrow  and  perhaps  an 
inch  and  a  half  in  diameter  except  where  they  tapered 
at  the  top.  The  plant  looked  like  some  species  of 
hibiscus.  Any  quantity  of  these  stalks  was  to  be  had, 
and  they  were  light  yet  strong  enough  for  my  purpose. 

I  selected  a  nice  level  piece  of  dry  sand  near  the 
stream  and  fifty  yards  or  so  from  the  sea  as  a  site  for 
my  proposed  house.  The  shadow  from  a  clump  of 
cocoanut  palms  fell  upon  the  spot  for  a  part  of  the 
day,  and  near  by  was  a  bit  of  rock  where  I  had  sat 
at  noon  spinning  coir.  Two  young  palms  grew  there 
about  eight  feet  apart,  the  trunks  of  which  would  serve 
for  the  main  supports  of  the  structure.  I  hunted  about 
in  the  forest  until  I  found  a  reasonably  straight  stick, 
that  would  reach  from  one  of  these  trees  to  the  other,  to 
serve  as  a  ridgepole,  and  lashed  it  firmly  to  them  with 
some  of  my  cocoanut  cord,  about  eight  feet  from  the 


HO  USE-B  UILDING.  3 1 

ground.  Then  I  brought  hibiscus  stalks,  taking  care  to 
cut  their  butts  diagonally.  They  were  easily  severed  by 
a  single  blow.  These  stalks  I  set  upright  in  the  sand ; 
as  firmly  as  possible,  for  the  four  walls  of  the  hut,  each 
wall  consisting  of  two  rows,  the  inner  row  being  planted 
close  together  and  the  outer  row  parallel  to  it  at  a 
distance  of  about  an  inch  and  a  half,  the  stalks  of  the 
outer  row  being  separated  from  one  another  three  or 
four  inches. 

When  they  were  set  up,  which  did  not  take  long  as  I 
made  no  effort  to  drive  them  very  firmly  in  the  sand, 
I  cut  off  the  tops  of  the  stalks  forming  the  end  walls  to 
the  shape  that  the  roof  was  subsequently  to  take,  and 
reduced  the  side  walls  to  a  common  level.  In  the  side 
next  the  sea  I  left  an  opening  for  a  doorway.  The 
space  between  the  rows  of  stalks  it  was  my  intention  to 
fill  with  dry  grass  laid  horizontally,  and  to  lay  in  at 
intervals  stalks  of  hibiscus,  finishing  off  the  top  of  the 
walls  with  a  good  stout  stalk  of  the  same,  laid  in  all 
around  and  lashed  to  both  rows  with  cord.  This,  I 
thought,  would  make  a  reasonably  stout  and  weather- 
proof wall,  and  so  it  subsequently  turned  out.  But  as 
night  came  on  at  this  stage  of  the  work,  I  could  not 
complete  even  the  walls  of  my  hut  before  dark,  and  was 
fain  to  content  myself  with  my  bed  under  the  chest. 

I  was  awakened  from  a  sound  sleep  by  something 
crawling  over  me.  Forgetful  of  where  I  was,  I  sprang 
up  erect,  and  my  head,  coming  violently  in  contact  with 
the  chest,  overturned  it,  while  I  fell  back  half  stunned 
with  the  blow.  The  moon  had  gone  down  and  the  stars 
were  shining  brightly,  but  there  was  not  light  enough  to 
see  anything  distinctly  except  on  the  water,  where  a 
phosphorescent  gleam  lighted  up  the  breaking  waves 
with  a  pale  greenish  glow  which  ran  in  streaks  along  the 
surface. 


32  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

As  soon  as  I  could  collect  my  scattered  senses  and 
get  upon  my  feet,  I  began  to  grope  around  in  search  of 
the  cause  of  the  disturbance.  Presently  a  loathsome, 
warty,  tuberculous  land  crab  scuttled  over  my  naked 
foot,  and  I  could  then  make  out  literally  hundreds  of 
shadowy  forms  sidling  over  the  sand.  There  was  no 
more  sleep  for  me  that  night,  and  I  was  glad  to  think 
from  the  appearance  of  the  sky  that  it  was  not  more 
than  two  hours  before  the  dawn.  As  I  had  already  been 
sleeping  for  eight  or  ten  hours  I  felt  rested,  but  was 
faint  with  hunger.  Cocoanut  no  longer  had  an  attrac- 
tion for  me,  but  as  there  was  nothing  else  at  hand  I 
forced  myself  to  eat  enough  to  relieve  my  faintness.  A 
good  cup  of  coffee  or  even  a  bowl  of  hot  soup  would 
have  seemed  a  fortune  to  me  then,  but  I  was  obliged  to 
be  satisfied  with  a  deep  draught  of  water,  which  lay  in 
my  stomach  sensibly  cold  and  heavy.  It  was  evident 
that  there  was  no  time  to  lose  in  getting  more  nutritious 
food  than  cocoanuts,  if  I  was  to  keep  my  strength. 
This  determined  me  to  kill  the  turtle  that  very  morning, 
without  waiting  for  the  slow  operation  of  the  salt  pan 
even  if  it  proved  ready  to  fill  with  sea  water  that  day ; 
for  the  evaporation  of  such  an  amount  of  water  might 
take  several  days  before  the  residue  was  salt  enough  for 
brine.  I  went  to  look  at  the  captive  and  found  it  as  I 
had  left  it  the  day  before. 

I  watched  the  eastern  horizon  patiently  for  signs  of 
dawn.  Finally  a  gray  pale  glow  lit  up  the  sky  and 
slowly  changed  to  a  tender  pink  and  primrose,  then 
suddenly  the  golden  rim  of  the  sun  shot  up  and  daylight 
as  suddenly  took  the  place  of  night.  The  streaks  and 
wreaths  of  mist  that  lay  sleeping  in  the  hollows  of  the 
waves  floated  away  and  dissolved. 

It  did  not  take  me  long  to  kill  and  dress  the  turtle, 
and  to  pack  the  meat,  both  callipash  and  callipee,  —  as 


HOUSE-BUILDING.  33 

the  two  sorts  composing  a  turtle's  anatomy  are  termed, 
—  into  the  upper  shell  and  to  cover  it  up  with  the 
breast  plate.  I  now  resolved  to  have  some  hot  tuitle 
soup. 

Among  the  photographic  apparatus  were  two  shallow 
developing-trays,  made  of  sheet  iron  and  lined  with 
porcelain.  They  were  about  an  inch  in  depth  and  six 
by  ten  inches  in  their  lateral  dimensions.  While  these 
would  serve  well  enough  perhaps  to  stew  or  fry  the  meat 
in,  they  did  not  hold  enough  to  make  soup.  There 
was,  however,  a  large  glass  bottle  holding  a  gallon,  filled 
with  a  solution  of  hyposulphite  of  soda  to  be  used  as  a 
fixing  solution  for  photographic  negatives.  This  I 
emptied  and  washed  thoroughly  with  sand  and  water 
until  it  was  perfectly  clean.  Cutting  some  of  the  meat 
into  small  fragments,  I  put  them  into  the  bottle  until  it 
was  a  third  full,  then  filled  it  with  equal  parts  of  sea 
water  and  fresh  water,  as  this  proportion  seemed  to  taste 
about  salt  enough.  I  then  set  the  bottle  in  the  hot 
ashes  until  the  contents  were  warm,  gradually  moving  it 
nearer  and  nearer  the  fire,  until  finally  all  was  so  hot 
that  I  no  longer  feared  the  heat  would  crack  the  glass  ; 
so,  drawing  out  some  embers,  I  set  the  bottle  boldly 
upon  them,  where  the  water  soon  began  to  simmer  and 
gently  boil.  In  the  mean  time,  I  stewed  some  of  the 
meat  with  sea  water  in  a  developing-tray  for  immediate 
consumption,  and  of  this  made  a  good  breakfast. 

After  breakfast  I  examined  the  salt  pan  to  see  if  the 
cement  had  set  sufficiently,  but  found  that  the  mortar 
was  still  somewhat  friable  and  not  hard  though  seemingly 
quite  dry.  I  concluded,  therefore,  to  let  it  harden  for 
another  twenty-four  hours  before  putting  it  to  the  test ; 
but  to  obtain  a  small  supply  of  salt  for  immediate  use  I 
filled  the  two  developing  trays  with  sea  water  and  set 
them  on  the  fire  to  boil. 

3 


34  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

When  these  operations  were  fairly  under  way,  I  re- 
sumed the  house-building.  First  I  gathered  a  great 
quantity  of  coarse,  dry  grass  in  the  bottom  land  of  the 
creek  and  laid  it  in  the  walls  in  the  manner  already 
described.  When  this  was  completed  to  my  satisfaction, 
I  began  the  construction  of  the  roof  after  the  following 
fashion  :  From  the  ridgepole  to  the  side  walls  I  laid  at 
intervals  of  six  inches  hibiscus-stalk  rafters,  securing 
them  in  place  at  both  ends  by  hay  bands  twisted  out  of 
the  dry,  tough  grass,  the  lower  ends  of  the  rafters  pro- 
jecting to  form  eaves.  On  these  rafters  and  parallel  to 
the  ridgepole  I  tied  in  like  manner  other  stalks,  at  in- 
tervals of  six  inches.  Here  was  a  light  and  reasonably 
strong  framework  ready  to  receive  a  thatching  of  grass 
or  palm  leaves,  but  I  concluded  that  grass  would  be 
preferable  as  it  would  make  a  roof  better  calculated  to 
resist  the  wind. 

Night  was  now  approaching,  and  as,  the  weather 
seemed  as  settled  as  ever,  the  lack  of  the  thatch  would 
be  no  special  hardship.  I  hurried  therefore  to  drag  my 
chest  up  to  the  house  and  arrange  my  bed  of  grass 
within  the  walls,  guarding  against  another  intrusion  of 
the  land  crabs  by  means  of  a  row  of  short  hibiscus 
stalks  across  the  doorway.  The  result  of  the  day's 
boiling  of  sea  water  in  my  developing-trays  was  some- 
thing over  a  tablespoonful  of  salt.  The  soup  which  had 
been  simmering  all  day  in  the  bottle  was  delicious,  and 
I  made  a  hearty  supper  of  part  of  it  and  some  of  the 
boiled  meat.  With  the  photographic  apparatus  were 
two  chemist's  graduated  glasses,  one  of  eight  and  one 
of  four  ounces.  These  made  capital  drinking-cups. 
The  larger  one  I  used  for  that  purpose,  and  into  the 
smaller  put  the  precious,  hard-earned  salt. 

As  I  had  no  notion  to  go  to  bed  with  the  sun,  I  cast 
about  for  something  to  occupy  the  two  or  three  hours 


HOUSE-BUILDING.  35 

before  bedtime,  and  concluded  to  fry  up  a  store  of 
turtle  meat  in  my  trays.  By  nine  o'clock  I  had  thus 
prepared  fully  twenty  pounds  of  the  meat,  which  I  piled 
upon  a  pavement  of  clam-shells  in  one  corner  of  the 
house.  The  land  crabs  being  duly  fenced  out,  I  turned 
in  and  slept  soundly  all  night. 

In  the  morning  I  was  up  at  break  of  day,  and  ate  a 
breakfast  of  hot  soup.  Immediately  after  breakfast  I 
began  to  thatch  my  roof.  For  this  purpose  I  carefully 
cut  bundles  of  the  long,  dry  grass,  and  beginning  at  the 
eaves,  laid  a  row,  butts  down,  in  a  layer  about  three 
inches  in  thickness.  On  this,  near  the  tops  of  the  grass, 
I  tied  a  stalk  of  the  hibiscus ;  then  another  layer  of 
grass,  covering  the  first  down  two  thirds  of  its  length  and 
covering  also  the  hibiscus  stalk;  and  so  on,  layer 
after  layer,  on  both  pitches  of  the  roof,  until  the  ridge- 
pole was  reached.  At  the  comb  of  the  ridge  I  finished 
all  by  bending  down  the  grass  at  each  side  and  securing 
it  with  a  couple  of  the  stalks,  one  at  each  side.  I  then 
heaped  up  the  sand  around  the  bottom  of  the  walls  on 
the  outside,  to  give  greater  stability  to  the  structure,  and 
dug  a  ditch  to  prevent  the  water  from  flooding  the  in- 
terior if  it  should  come  down  faster  than  the  sandy  soil 
could  absorb  it. 

The  next  thing  to  make  was  some  sort  of  door,  and 
the  planning  and  fashioning  of  this  gave  me  occasion 
for  no  little  thought  and  trouble.  Finally,  after  trying 
other  methods  unsuccessfully,  I  rigged  up  a  sort  of  roll- 
ing blind  out  of  the  stalks  by  cutting  a  number  of  them 
of  a  length  a  little  greater  than  the  width  of  the  door- 
way and  tying  them  close  together  by  a  cord  at  each 
end  and  one  in  the  middle,  so  that  the  whole  would  be 
flexible  like  a  curtain.  This  I  hung  over  the  doorway 
and  attached  a  loop  at  each  lower  corner  to  secure  it 
when  it  was  down.  When  the  door  was  to  be  opened 


36  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

this  curtain  could  be  rolled  up  and  held  in  position  by 
pulling  a  cord,  or  could  be  swung  aside  when  ingress  or 
egress  merely  was  desired.  Along  the  walls  inside  I 
made  some  rude  shelves  of  hibiscus  stalks,  so  that  I 
might  have  my  small  possessions  handy  and  safe. 

I  intended  as  soon  as  convenient  to  spin  a  good  sup- 
ply of  cord  and  make  a  hammock  to  swing  from  one  of 
the  palm  pillars  to  the  other.  In  the  mean  time,  as  a 
temporary  expedient  for  a  bed,  I  laid  a  platform  of 
hibiscus  stalks  in  one  corner,  and  covered  them  with  a 
thick  layer  of  grass.  For  ventilation  and  light,  I  cut 
under  the  projecting  eaves  four  openings,  or  windows, 
into  which,  so  sheltered,  the  rain  would  not  be  likely 
to  drive.  The  chest  answered  for  a  seat  or  table  as 
occasion  required. 

Here  was  a  reasonably  comfortable  dwelling  where  I 
should  be  safe  from  the  rain.  And,  indeed,  it  was  com- 
pleted none  too  soon,  for  even  as  I  was  sitting  in  the 
house  on  the  chest,  resting  and  contemplating  my  work, 
I  heard  the  wind  rustling  among  the  palm  leaves  and 
was  sensible  of  a  darkening  of  the  sky,  which  betokened 
a  storm.  The  swaying  of  the  two  young  palms  which 
held  the  ridgepole  at  once  warned  me  that  the  motion 
was  likely  to  rack  and  weaken  the  whole  structure.  The 
tops  of  these  two  trees  must  come  off  at  once.  By 
hauling  out  the  chest  and  using  it  as  a  scaffolding,  I 
could  reach  the  palm  trunks  at  a  point  above  the  ridge- 
pole ;  but  when  I  tried  to  cut  the  tree  with  my  knife,  I 
found  it  would  take  too  long  to  sever  it.  Therefore,  the 
only  way  was  to  climb  the  slender  trunk  and  break  off 
its  branches.  One  of  the  trunks  bent  so  under  my 
weight  as  to  break  short  off  above  the  ridgepole,  drop- 
ping me  on  the  sand,  but  without  harm.  The  other  one 
I  succeeded  in  denuding  of  its  crown  of  leaves. 

The  storm  was  coming  up  grandly  from  the  southeast. 


HOUSE-BUILDING.  37 

The  sea  in  that  direction  was  of  an  indigo  tint  streaked 
with  flashes  of  foam,  and  above  hung  a  leaden  mass  of 
clouds  with  a  touch  of  copper-color  here  and  there, 
where  the  internal  fires  flashed  and  glowed.  The  wind 
sank  to  a  perfect  calm,  and  occasionally  a  great  drop  of 
rain  fell  warm  as  blood.  I  had  brought  all  the  contents 
of  the  chest  up  near  the  hut,  and  I  now  hurried  to  get 
them  under  the  shelter.  The  fire  was  smouldering  near 
by,  and  there  was  a  good  supply  of  wood  piled  near  it. 
I  hurriedly  carried  this  into  the  house,  and  also  four  or 
five  charred  and  ignited  sticks,  which  I  placed  in  the 
middle  of  the  room  on  the  sand  together  in  such  man- 
ner that  they  would  smoulder  slowly  there  and  keep 
alight.  The  smoke  might  be  an  annoyance,  but  as  soon 
as  there  was  a  draught  of  air,  it  would  drift  out  through 
the  ventilators,  and  I  could  keep  to  windward  of  it. 
Finally  I  ran  out  and  dragged  in  my  turtle  shell  with  its 
store  of  meat,  and  put  that  also  under  shelter. 

The  calm  still  continued  deathlike  and  dark.  When 
all  was  under  shelter  and  I  had  returned  from  the  brook 
with  my  goblet  filled  with  fresh  water,  I  stood  at  the 
open  door,  looking  at  the  sea.  Suddenly,  without  any 
further  warning,  down  came  the  rain  in  bucketfuls,  fall- 
ing in  vertical  lines,  —  such  a  shower  as  is  rarely  seen. 
The  roof  held  tight,  the  water  streaming  from  it  like  a 
cataract,  but  not  a  drop  coming  through  to  the  interior. 
In  about  twenty  minutes  the  rain  as  suddenly  ceased. 
Looking  out  over  the  ocean,  I  saw  on  the  surface  a 
streak  of  blue-black  water,  parallel  with  the  horizon  and 
flecked  with  tiny  streaks  of  white,  advancing.  The 
squall  was  coming.  Hurriedly  I  unrolled  my  door- 
curtain  and  fastened  it  securely  at  the  bottom.  I  was 
just  in  time.  As  the  blast  struck  the  house,  the  whole 
structure  trembled  and  swayed,  but  held  fast.  I  could 


38  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

hear  the  shrieking  of  the  wind  as  it  swept  through  the 
neighboring  palms,  and  the  occasional  crash  of  a  break- 
ing stem  mingled  with  the  dashing  rain  which  now  drove 
violently  against  the  roof  and  walls,  and  I  thanked  my 
good-fortune  that  this  shelter  was  ready.  This  gale 
continued  to  blow  until  long  after  dark.  Indeed  it  was 
still  raging  when  I  fell  asleep,  to  dream  of  shipwrecks 
and  hurricanes. 

When  I  awoke  early  in  the  morning  and  looked  out 
through  the  ventilator,  I  found  that  the  wind  had  fallen 
to  a  moderate  breeze  and  had  veered  around  to  the 
northeast,  bringing  a  dense  fog,  and  that  a  fine  rain  was 
falling  with  a  settled  appearance  such  as  betokened  a 
wet  day.  My  first  care  was  to  look  after  my  fire.  It 
was  almost  out,  and  to  rekindle  it  from  the  few  smoul- 
dering sparks  was  a  matter  requiring  very  tender  man- 
ipulation. But  at  last  I  had  it  going  again,  and  my 
pans  of  turtle  meat  stewing  and  frying  on  a  gentle  blaze, 
that  demanded  to  be  watched  constantly. 

This  was  a  good  time  to  overhaul  my  stock  of  books 
to  see  what  they  were,  and  to  find  out  whether  the  salt 
water  had  left  them  in  condition  for  use.  They  were 
now  perfectly  dry,  but  the  bindings  were  warped  and 
loosened.  The  leaves  were  in  many  places  stuck  to- 
gether, and  yellow  and  brown  leather  stains  had  crept 
in  about  the  margins.  But  they  still  held  together  and 
were  legible.  The  books  consisted  of  a  dozen  well- 
selected  novels,  a  manual  of  photography,  the  United 
States  Dispensatory,  a  student's  manual  of  botany,  a 
school  geology,  and  a  German  word-book.  Looking 
over  these  books  while  I  lay  on  my  couch,  with  an 
occasional  glance  at  the  cooking,  I  passed  the  time  very 
pleasantly  all  the  morning. 

At  noon  the  rain  still  continued  ;   so,  not  to  be  idle, 


HOUSE-BUILDING.  39 

I  ran  out  and  picked  up  some  freshly  fallen  cocoanuts 
both  to  vary  my  diet  and  to  obtain  a  supply  of  fibre  for 
spinning.  The  whole  afternoon  was  spent  in  preparing 
the  fibre  and  spinning  it  into  cord,  and  by  night  I  had 
accumulated  quite  enough  to  make  me  a  hammock. 
This,  I  resolved,  should  be  my  next  task  if  the  foul 
weather  continued.  The  smoke  from  the  smouldering 
fire  was  a  source  of  great  annoyance,  by  getting  into  my 
eyes.  I  determined  to  remedy  this  as  soon  as  I  could, 
by  erecting  a  fireplace  and  chimney  of  some  sort.  But 
in  the  mean  time  I  utilized  this  annoying  guest  as  much 
as  possible  by  hanging  several  sticks  full  of  strips  of  the 
turtle  meat  in  the  peak  of  the  roof,  where  the  smoke 
collected  thickest,  that  it  might  become  partially  cured. 
This,  I  hoped,  would  preserve  it,  as  it  had  been  lying  in 
sea  water  in  the  shell ;  and  so  it  proved.  For  after  this 
smoking  the  meat  dried  without  taint,  and,  as  I  subse- 
quently found,  made  most  excellent  eating. 

With  melted  turtle  fat,  a  clam-shell,  and  a  wick  made 
of  fibre,  I  improvised  a  light,  and  after  it  grew  dark,  fell 
to  looking  over  my  library  until  bedtime,  the  rain  still 
pattering  on  the  thatch  when  I  retired.  The  next  morn- 
ing the  weather  was  still  boisterous,  the  rain  driving  and 
the  heavy  mists  sweeping  along  the  sea.  The  leaden 
clouds  still  hung  low  and  dark.  This  day  I  spent  in- 
doors working  at  my  hammock  and  varying  the  monot- 
ony by  hanging  up  the  last  of  the  meat  to  smoke,  look- 
ing over  my  books  and  wishing  for  fair  weather.  I 
finished  the  hammock,  but  could  not  use  it  on  account 
of  the  smoke,  and  was  obliged  to  sleep  on  my  pallet  as 
before.  As  the  turtle  fat  was  all  gone  and  therefore  no 
light  was  to  be  had,  I  turned  in  early  and  awoke  in  the 
morning  at  dawn.  On  going  out  I  found  the  sky  clear 
and  the  sun  rising  fair.  All  the  foliage  looked  fresh  and 


4O  THE   SPANISH  GALLEON. 

bright  after  the  rain,  and  the  birds  were  cheerfully  sing- 
ing in  the  forest.  It  was  a  glorious  change,  and  my 
confinement  in  the  house  for  two  days  gave  added 
zest  to  it.  This  would  be  a  good  day  for  an  explor- 
ing trip,  and  I  thought  I  would  spend  it  in  such  an 
expedition. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PIG-HUNTING. 

AMONG  the  photographic  appliances  there  was  a 
sort  of  haversack  or  bag  with  a  shoulder-strap, 
designed  to  contain  plate-holders.  This  I  emptied  and 
stored  with  a  supply  of  fried  turtle  meat  and  a  small 
bottle  of  water. 

About  seven  o'clock  I  started  up  the  bed  of  the 
brook,  as  affording  the  easiest  path  by  which  to  pene- 
trate the  forest  that,  coming  down  nearly  to  the  beach, 
extended  on  each  hand  as  far  as  I  could  see.  To  the 
south  was  a  stretch  of  low  land,  perhaps  twenty  acres  in 
extent,  covered  for  the  most  part  with  grass,  and  in  the 
lowest  portion  with  reeds  and  rushes.  Just  as  the  brook 
emerged  from  the  forest  it  was  shadowed  by  a  dense 
mass  of  tall  canes.  The  grass  I  had  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  my  house  was  a  coarse  variety  growing  from 
two  and  a  half  to  three  feet  in  height.  On  the  higher 
ground  grew  a  slenderer  variety  with  heavy  seed  heads, 
a  sample  of  which  I  gathered  as  it  seemed  to  resemble 
canary  seed,  and  might  serve  as  food.  Great  quantities 
of  this  grass  grew  thickly  on  the  knolls  and  higher  parts 
of  the  upland.  The  water  deepened  where  I  waded 
through  the  canebrake,  and  ran  with  a  sluggish  current. 
I  gathered  a  great  bundle  of  rushes,  and  laid  them  on 
the  bank,  intending  to  pick  them  up  on  my  return. 
They  would  be  useful  in  weaving  me  a  substitute  for  a 
hat,  a  convenience  which  I  lacked  at  that  time. 

Just  at  the  farther  border  of  the  canebrake,  there 
was  a  muddy  place  where  pigs  had  evidently  been  wal- 


42  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

lowing,  for  I  found  thousands  of  tracks  about.  Here 
was  a  favorite  resort  for  them,  not  above  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  my  house  ;  but  I  wasted  no  time  then  hunting 
for  this  game,  as  I  had  formed  no  plan  for  its  capture. 

One  thing  I  wanted  to  find  was  a  bed  of  clay,  which 
could  be  put  to  many  valuable  uses,  especially  the  build- 
ing of  a  fireplace  and  chimney.  There  was  reason  to 
believe  that  plenty  was  to  be  had  on  the  island,  which 
was  of  volcanic  formation,  and  moreover  the  water  of 
the  brook,  swollen  by  the  recent  rain,  was  stained  as 
though  with  clay. 

As  I  neared  the  line  of  cliff  and  rocks  that  formed  the 
central  ridge  or  back-bone  of  the  island,  the  course  of 
the  stream  bent  to  the  north,  and  the  forest  was  inter- 
spersed with  small  open  glades  where  the  great  butter- 
flies floated  across  through  the  sunshine,  the  metallic 
satiny  blue  of  their  lustrous  wings  glancing  in  the  light. 
A  flock  of  parrots  with  green,  red,  and  blue  plumage 
were  chattering  and  screaming  noisily  in  the  bordering 
trees,  and  an  occasional  little  green  lizard  would  dash 
along  the  fallen  trunks  or  over  the  rocks  like  a  flash  of 
emerald  light.  In  one  of  these  glades  I  found  a  quan- 
tity of  shrubs  growing  about  ten  feet  high  and  loaded 
with  berries  about  the  size  of  pepper-corns.  The  out- 
side of  these  berries  seemed  covered  with  a  greenish 
white  wax.  The  leaf  was  somewhat  like  the  myrtle.  A 
sample  of  this,  and  of  several  other  varieties  of  vegeta- 
tion which  were  strange  to  me,  I  gathered  to  take  home 
for  identification  in  my  manual  of  botany.  I  may  here 
state  that  this  berry-bearing  shrub  turned  out  to  be  the 
wax  myrtle  (Myrica  cerifera  of  the  botanists),  and  that 
the  waxy  coating  of  the  berries  was  what  is  known  as 
bay-berry  tallow.  This  wax  can  be  readily  collected  by 
boiling  the  drupes  and  skimming  it  off  as  it  rises  to  the 
surface  of  the  water ;  and  a  bushel  of  the  berries  will 


PIG-HUNTING.  43 

yield  from  four  to  five  pounds  of  the  wax,  which  can  be 
employed  to  make  excellent  candles. 

Near  the  cliffs  I  came  upon  a  fine  bed  of  clay,  and  I 
was  so  delighted  with  this  discovery  that  I  immediately 
began  casting  about  for  means  of  transporting  a  good 
supply  to  my  house.  The  bed  was  distant  from  the 
house,  as  nearly  as  I  could  judge,  about  two  miles,  and 
the  labor  of  carrying  such  heavy  material  would  be  very 
great.  The  best  plan  would  be  to  knock  together  a  raft 
of  dry  wood  and  float  the  clay  down  stream  as  a  cargo. 
Vines  and  creepers  to  serve  as  cordage  to  tie  the  dead 
wood  together  were  abundant,  nor  did  it  take  me  long 
to  collect  the  wood  and  fashion  the  raft.  Indeed,  the 
harder  task  proved  to  be  the  digging  out  of  the  tough 
clay,  as  the  only  implements  I  had  for  this  purpose  were 
pointed  sticks.  But  I  finally  cut  a  sharp,  heavy  stake  of 
hard  wood,  and  by  driving  this  into  the  clay,  was  able 
to  pry  off  large  chunks,  and  soon  had  a  load  ready. 
On  the  raft  I  laid  some  broad  leaves  and  pieces  of  bark 
to  serve  as  a  deck,  and  on  this  placed  the  clay  in  a  great 
heap,  as  much  as  the  raft  would  carry  in  the  shallow 
water.  Tying  a  long  creeper  to  the  raft,  by  which  to 
pull,  guide,  or  hold  it  back,  as  the  navigation  might  re- 
quire, I  started  it  off  into  the  current,  and  wading  in  the 
shallow  stream,  followed  it  down,  holding  on  to  the  line 
as  it  floated  away.  Barring  an  occasional  grounding  in 
the  shallow  places,  my  raft  floated  serenely  along  at  a 
good  pace,  and  soon  reached  port,  where  I  unloaded 
the  clay  and  drew  out  the  raft  to  serve  as  firewood. 

This  was  a  good  job  well  done,  and  I  more  than  once 
regretted  the  time  I  had  wasted  in  the  lime-burning 
task,  for  had  I  found  this  clay  sooner,  a  much  better 
salt  pan  could  have  been  made  with  it  than  with  the 
mortar.  This  thought  caused  me  to  go  and  examine 
the  salt  pan.  I  found  the  mortar  on  the  bottom  dry 


44  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

and  hard,  so  I  opened  the  gate  that  the  sea  water  might 
flow  in  at  the  next  tide  and  fill  it. 

The  first  use  to  be  made  of  the  clay  was  in  the  build- 
ing of  a  fireplace  and  chimney  for  the  house.  My  plan 
was  to  build  up  the  structure  of  sticks,  cob-house  fash- 
ion, and  then  chink  and  plaster  it  with  a  good  coating  of 
clay.  Before  this  could  be  done,  however,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  put  the  clay  through  some  pugging  process 
by  which  it  could  be  rendered  soft  and  plastic.  This  I 
accomplished  by  trampling  the  clay  with  my  naked  feet, 
adding  a  sprinkling  of  water  now  and  then,  until  I  had 
a  mass  of  soft,  mortar-like  consistency.  Then  on  the 
outside  of  the  house  I  built  up  the  fireplace  close 
against  the  wall,  and  carried  the  chimney  up  about  a 
foot  above  the  highest  part  of  the  roof,  plastering  the 
sticks  inside  thoroughly  with  the  soft  clay.  When  this 
was  done  I  cut  through  the  wall  to  the  fireplace,  and 
plastered  clay  on  the  jambs  to  make  all  tight.  The 
hearth  I  formed  of  harder  clay,  well  pounded  down  and 
mixed  with  the  sand.  If  no  wind  came  until  the  struc- 
ture was  dry,  it  would  become  hard  and  strong  enough 
to  resist  anything  short  of  a  hurricane.  That  the  drying 
might  be  more  rapid,  I  immediately  built  a  good  fire  in 
it,  and  was  rejoiced  to  find  the  draught  excellent  and 
the  effect  of  the  bright  firelight  upon  the  interior  quite 
pleasant  and  homelike.  This  work  occupied  the  whole 
day. 

In  the  evening  I  brought  a  good  supply  of  clay  into 
the  house,  and  using  the  chest  as  a  work-bench,  busied 
myself  until  bedtime  with  moulding  several  vessels 
of  different  shapes  and  sizes  for  use  in  cooking  and 
about  the  house.  I  fashioned  a  rude  pot  capable  of 
holding  about  five  gallons ;  a  smaller  one  to  hold  a 
gallon  or  thereabouts ;  a  water-jar  with  two  handles  by 
which  it  might  be  swung  with  a  cord  from  the  ridgepole, 


PIG-HUNTING.  45 

to  contain  drinking-water  ;  and  others  of  various  shapes 
and  sizes.  All  these  I  dusted  over  inside  and  out  with 
dry  sand  and  set  aside  where  they  might  dry  ready  for 
burning. 

That  night  I  slept  for  the  first  time  in  my  hammock, 
and  the  change  was  a  comfortable  one,  though  in  the 
early  morning  hours  I  felt  the  need  of  some  warm 
covering.  For  however  hot  the  days  might  be,  the 
nights  on  the  island  were  always  cool.  However,  when 
it  got  chilly  I  turned  out  and  heaped  the  dry  grass  of 
my  former  bed  into  the  hammock,  and  was  soon  warm 
enough. 

In  the  morning,  after  setting  my  vessels  out  in  the 
sun,  I  turned  to  the  careful  examination  of  all  the  sam- 
ples of  vegetation  which  I  had  collected,  carefully  look- 
ing them  up  in  the  Botany  to  find  their  names  and 
properties,  and  also  in  the  Dispensatory.  The  seed- 
bearing  grass  was  undoubtedly  canary  grass.  Besides 
this  and  the  wax-bearing  myrtle,  the  only  other  notable 
sample  was  a  species  of  india-rubber-bearing  artocarpus. 
As  the  canary  grass  was  ripe,  I  thought  I  could  not  do 
better  than  to  harvest  a  good  supply  of  it  at  once.  The 
whole  of  that  day  and  the  next  were  spent  in  gathering 
it  and  stacking  it  up  near  the  house.  The  labor  was 
very  great,  as  my  knife  was  a  poor  substitute  for  a 
sickle  ;  but  the  necessity  of  some  sort  of  farinaceous 
food  spurred  me  on.  I  gathered  in  all  a  great  stack 
ten  feet  in  diameter  and  twelve  feet  high  at  the  peak. 
This  I  thatched  with  grass,  just  as  I  had  seen  grain 
stacks  thatched  at  home,  that  it  might  be  protected  from 
the  wet.  Great  flocks  of  small  birds  were  feeding  upon 
this  seed  where  it  grew,  and  I  trapped  a  dozen  or  more 
by  unhinging  the  chest  lid  and  using  it  propped  up  with 
a  stick  as  a  trap. 

To  try  the  character  of  the  seed  as  food,  I  parched  a 


46  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

pint  of  it  over  the  fire  and  then  crushed  it  in  a  great 
bivalve  shell  with  a  round  stone  into  a  coarse  meal. 
This  meal  I  mixed  with  water  and  salt,  and  it  made  a 
very  good  sort  of  cold  gruel.  This,  with  the  birds 
broiled  on  the  coals,  made  quite  the  best  meal  I  had  so 
far  eaten  on  the  island.  The  salt  pan  had  already 
begun  to  yield  salt,  which  was  crystallizing  along  the 
edges  as  the  water  evaporated.  The  smoked  turtle 
meat  continued  good,  and  I  relished  it  very  much. 
The  weather  remained  fine  from  day  to  day,  and  I  had 
strong  hopes  that  a  vessel  might  heave  in  sight  at  any 
moment.  As  a  preparation  for  such  a  chance  I  laid  a 
pile  of  wood  ready  to  make  a  signal  fire,  and  as  a  per- 
manent signal  selected  an  isolated  palm-tree  and  denud- 
ing it  of  its  leaves,  tied  a  great  stick  across  it  near  the 
top,  —  an  arrangement  which,  I  hoped,  might  attract  the 
attention  of  a  passing  vessel  should  I  fail  to  see  it.  Of 
material  to  make  a  flag  I  had  nothing  to  spare  except 
the  square  of  black  focussing-cloth  belonging  to  the 
camera,  —  and  this  I  needed  every  night  as  a  covering,  as 
it  was  all  I  had  for  that  purpose. 

As  soon  as  my  pots  and  other  vessels  were  thoroughly 
dry  I  built  a  great  pile  of  dry  wood  over  them  and  set 
fire  to  it.  I  greatly  feared  some  of  them  might  crack 
with  the  heat,  but  fortunately  they  all  came  out  in  a  ser- 
viceable condition  though  by  no  means  very  hard.  Now 
that  I  had  a  large  vessel  in  which  water  could  be  boiled, 
I  bethought  me  of  the  wax  berries  and  made  several 
trips  to  gather  a  store  of  them.  These  I  boiled  in  my 
large  pot,  and  skimmed  off  the  wax  until  I  had  collected 
fully  forty  pounds  of  it,  the  product  of  about  ten 
bushels  of  the  berries.  Of  this  wax  I  made  candles,  or 
rather  rushlights,  by  dipping  dry  rushes  into  the  melted 
wax  and  letting  it  cool  on  them.  When  one  coat  of 
wax  set  I  would  dip  the  rush  again,  and  so  on,  until 


PIG-HUNTING.  47 

each  rush  had  four  good  coats.  One  of  these  candles 
would  burn  about  four  hours  and  give  a  good  steady 
light  without  sputtering  or  guttering,  though  the  rush 
wick  required  occasional  snuffing.  These  lights  were  a 
great  comfort  to  me  at  night,  for  I  could  read  and  do 
light  work  until  bedtime  without  the  necessity  of  keep- 
ing up  a  hot  fire. 

It  was  by  candle-light  that  I  made  me  a  hat  out  of 
rushes  as  follows  :  Selecting  about  fifty  of  the  cleanest 
and  slenderest  I  could  find,  and  all  of  about  equal 
length,  I  tied  them  firmly  together  by  a  cord  wound 
tightly  around  near  the  butts.  Then  I  interwove  stalks 
of  the  tough,  heavy  grass,  spreading  the  rushes  out  into 
a  conical  shape  until  large  enough  to  fit  comfortably  on 
my  head.  This  was  the  body  of  the  hat.  The  brim 
was  produced  in  the  same  manner  by  bending  out  the 
ends  of  the  rushes  to  a  common  horizontal  plane  and 
then  interweaving  the  grass  as  before,  finishing  the  edge 
of  the  brim  with  a  grass  selvage.  This  made  a  light, 
cool  structure,  sufficient  to  keep  the  sun  off  my  head, 
and  far  more  comfortable  than  the  handkerchief  I  had 
worn  wound  about  it  as  my  sole  head-covering  up  to 
this  time. 

Now  that  the  salt  pan  was  doing  its  work,  and  a 
supply  of  salt  within  a  few  days  was  considerably  more 
than  a  mere  possibility,  I  felt  justified  in  endeavoring  to 
obtain  a  store  of  meat.  My  mind  turned  to  the  turtle 
and  the  pigs,  especially  the  latter ;  for  if  I  could  by  any 
means  capture  a  pig,  there  would  be  several  weeks' 
rations,  at  least,  of  fresh,  salted,  and  smoked  pork. 
Visions  of  broiled  ham  and  bacon  troubled  my  dreams. 
I  made  an  effort  to  capture  another  turtle,  watching  the 
beach  for  the  good  part  of  a  night ;  but  I  saw  none. 
The  next  morning,  I  determined  to  go  upon  a  regularly 
organized  pig-hunt.  The  only  method  of  capturing 


48  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

them  was  by  means  of  a  lasso  or  the  bolas.  The  forty- 
foot  line  that  came  ashore  around  the  chest  would 
make  an  excellent  lasso,  and  I  rigged  it  at  once  with  a 
slip  noose.  I  also  cut  a  hard-wood  pole  about  eight 
feet  in  length,  charred  the  end  in  the  fire  to  harden  it, 
and  made  it  sharp  for  use  as  a  lance.  A  bolas  was 
contrived  out  of  two  stones  tied,  one  at  each  end,  to  a 
stout  cord  six  feet  long.  Thus  accoutred,  I  struck  off 
from  the  creek  and  made  a  detour  through  the  dense 
jungle  so  as  to  force  the  game  into  the  stream,  or  at 
least  to  be  upon  higher  ground  if  they  should  prove  to 
be  in  the  mud,  as  I  hoped  would  be  the  case.  The 
labor  of  penetrating  the  dense  scrub  was  very  great,  and 
the  heat  intense  ;  not  a  breath  of  air  could  reach  these 
fastnesses,  and  perspiration  poured  from  me  as  though  I 
were  in  a  Turkish  bath. 

After  a  two-hours  struggle  I  found  myself  nearing  the 
place,  and  it  became  necessary  to  move  with  the  great- 
est caution.  Every  few  minutes  I  would  stop  and  listen. 
Presently  I  could  hear  the  murmur  of  the  brook,  and 
crawling  along  cautiously,  I  came  to  a  fallen  tree,  the 
trunk  of  which  reached  quite  to  the  stream.  By  follow- 
ing this  down  carefully,  I  came  to  a  point  where  I  could 
see  the  wallowing-place.  There,  sure  enough,  were  the 
pigs,  a  score  or  more  in  number,  mostly  lying  asleep  and 
half  buried  in  the  mud.  I  studied  the  whole  situation 
rapidly  but  thoroughly.  It  seemed  probable  from  the 
lay  of  the  ground  that  if  something  could  frighten  the 
animals  from  the  other  side,  they  would  naturally  rush 
under  the  fallen  tree  just  below  me.  Indeed,  there  was 
a  well-beaten  track  at  this  place  going  under  the  trunk, 
which  was  at  this  point  about  five  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  the  stream,  the  canebrake,  and  the  dense  jungle 
made  this  by  far  the  easiest  route  for  the  pigs. 

My  plan  was  made  instantly,  thus  :    I  would   throw 


PIC-HUNTING,  49 

the  bolas  at  a  half-grown  pig  that  was  rooting  about 
near  the  jungle  on  the  farther  side  of  the  group,  and 
take  my  chance  of  the  herd  coming  this  way  when  they 
broke.  I  unrolled  my  lasso  and  laid  it  ready  for  instant 
use,  placed  my  lance  where  it  could  be  grasped,  and 
cautiously  rising,  that  I  might  have  free  play,  swung  the 
bolas  around  twice  and  let  it  fly.  Gyrating  like  twin 
planets,  the  stones  sped  fairly  through  the  air,  true  to  the 
mark ;  one  passed  under  the  pig,  and  the  other  swung 
behind  him,  wrapping  the  cords  around  the  hind-quar- 
ters and  legs,  and  bowling  him  over  like  a  ten-pin. 
The  little  fellow  set  up  a  squeal,  and  then,  whoof! 
whoof!  with  a  grunt  and  a  squeal,  the  whole  herd 
sprang  up,  looked  around,  saw  their  overturned  and 
struggling  companion,  and  started  directly  toward  my 
place  of  concealment.  In  the  mean  time  I  had  crouched 
down  out  of  view,  and  spread  my  noose  ready  for  busi- 
ness. Underneath  they  ran  squealing  and  snorting  in 
great  panic,  and  I  let  them  pass  as  I  had  my  eye  on 
a  great  boar  who  was  very  deliberate  in  his  movements 
and  appeared  to  disdain  undignified  flight.  He  slowly 
advanced,  however,  champing  his  tusks  until  they 
frothed,  and  shaking  his  great  head.  I  thought  it  best, 
in  view  of  his  great  size  and  weight,  to  take  a  turn  of  the 
lasso  around  a  limb  and  give  it  a  hitch  as  a  holdfast,  as 
my  own  strength  would  not  be  enough  to  stop  the  brute. 
I  had  scarcely  done  this  when  his  head  came  under  the 
tree,  and  I  swung  the  noose  deftly  over  it  as  he  emerged, 
and  then  hauled  in  the  slack.  The  astonished  beast 
sprang  forward  with  a  great  bound  and  jerked  the  rope 
from  my  hands  with  such  violence  that  I  was  thrown  to 
the  ground. 

When  I  scrambled  up  I  saw  the  rope  tighten  until  it 
sung   in   the   air  like  a   bowstring,    and   then   slacken 
again.     I  could  not  see  the  boar,  as  he  was  hidden  in 
4 


5<D  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

the  long  grass ;  but  I  seized  my  sharpened  stick  lance 
and  ran  toward  where  he  ought  to  be.  Suddenly  the 
great  brute  emerged  from  the  grass,  facing  me,  and 
charged  toward  me,  evidently  bent  on  mischief,  the 
flakes  of  froth  flying  from  his  tusks.  There  was  no 
time  to  get  out  of  the  way,  nor  even  get  the  lance 
around  into  position,  and  I  thought  I  should  speedily 
feel  his  sharp  tusks.  He  was  almost  upon  me  before  I 
could  realize  the  situation.  Just  at  this  critical  juncture 
I  felt  the  lasso  fly  up  under  my  feet,  throwing  me  over 
backward,  and  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  boar  as  he 
turned  a  half-somersault  and  plunged  down  on  his 
side.  When  he  fell  he  was  not  two  feet  from  me.  The 
lasso  had  been  doubled  around  a  bush  and  had  thus 
brought  the  desperate  creature  up  just  in  time  to  save 
me.  The  lance  was  still  in  my  grasp,  and  I  got  to  my 
feet  before  my  enemy  could  recover.  Now  it  was  my 
turn.  Knowing  he  could  not  reach  me  on  this  side,  I 
came  close  up  to  him  as  he  was  making  the  dirt  fly  with 
his  legs  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  get  up,  and  drove  the 
sharpened  stick  with  all  my  force  and  weight  into  his 
side,  just  back  of  the  shoulder. 

This  ended  the  battle  as  the  stick  went  half-way 
through  him.  Panting  for  breath  and  with  the  per- 
spiration fairly  running  into  my  eyes,  I  turned  away  and 
left  him  to  die  in  peace,  and  went  to  look  after  the  pig, 
thinking  I  had  been  a  great  fool  to  tackle  the  boar  at 
all.  I  found  the  pig  still  struggling  with  the  bolas 
wrapped  around  him.  I  immediately  determined  to 
keep  this  one  alive.  To  do  this,  I  must  get  my  lasso 
loose  from  the  dying  boar.  When  I  went  back  I  found 
him  just  kicking  his  last.  With  the  lasso  I  secured  the 
pig  in  such  manner  that  he  could  not  get  away,  and 
then  removed  the  bolas  and  let  him  up,  giving  him  very 
little  rope  as  I  had  no  mind  to  let  him  run  into  the 


PIG-HUNTING.  5 1 

brush  and  entangle  himself.  I  then  proceeded  to  flay 
the  boar,  cutting  off  the  hams  and  choicer  parts,  and  se- 
curing as  much  of  the  lard  and  fat  as  I  was  able.  I 
carried  this  down  the  bed  of  the  creek  to  the  house. 
I  then  went  back  for  the  pig  and  endeavored  to  get  him 
home  alive ;  but  I  found  it  utterly  impossible  to  do  so, 
as  the  vicious,  obstinate  brute  could  not  be  made  to  go 
in  any  but  the  wrong  direction.  So  I  was  finally  obliged 
to  haul  him  tight  up  against  a  tree  and  kill  him. 

I  now  had  a  great  store  of  pork,  and  the  next  thing 
was  to  cure  it.  Salt  was  now  the  important  thing,  and 
I  went  to  my  salt  pan  to  see  what  the  prospect  was. 
To  my  great  satisfaction,  I  found  the  water  all  dried  up, 
leaving  a  fine  layer  of  glistening  salt,  thickest  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  basin  and  gradually  thinning  away  to  a 
mere  frosting  at  the  edges.  It  was  quite  dry  and  caked, 
so  that  there  was  no  trouble  to  get  it  up  from  the  bot- 
tom, and  when  I  had  heaped  it  together  in  the  centre, 
there  were,  I  should  judge,  over  fifty  pounds.  This 
precious  commodity  I  carried  at  once  to  the  house  so 
that  it  might  be  under  shelter  from  the  dew  and  rain. 

I  turned  to  at  once  to  "  dry-salt "  the  pork,  rubbing 
each  piece  thoroughly  on  all  sides,  and  piling  the  whole 
up  in  the  now  empty  turtle  shell  with  the  breast  plate 
weighed  down  on  it  with  heavy  stones.  The  only  place 
where  I  could  store  this  meat  was  in  the  single  room  of 
my  house.  But  I  determined  to  remedy  this  by  build- 
ing as  soon  as  possible  a  lean-to  at  the  back  of  the 
house,  which  I  could  use  first  as  a  smoke-house,  and 
then  as  a  storeroom  for  my  provisions.  The  turtle 
meat,  now  perfectly  cured,  I  stored  temporarily  in  the 
chest. 

That  night  I  lay  in  my  hammock  in  position  to  see 
the  starlit  ocean  through  one  of  the  ventilators,  and 
thought  over  my  situation.  I  could  not  now  complain 


52  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

of  lack  of  food,  for  there  was  a  supply  sufficient  to  last 
me  two  months  at  least,  and  there  was  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  it  would  not  be  at  all  difficult  to  replenish  the 
store.  In  my  porous  earthen  jar,  slung  at  the  head  of 
my  hammock  in  the  cool  air-current,  and  by  its  slow 
evaporation  cooling  the  liquid  contents,  was  pure,  cool, 
sweet  water  to  drink,  and  outside  was  a  running  brook 
from  which  to  fill  it  as  often  as  required.  I  could  safely 
hope  to  support  myself  here  as  long  as  might  be  neces- 
sary. But  as  I  had  no  desire  to  remain  indefinitely  a 
prisoner  on  this  island,  I  began  to  turn  my  thoughts 
persistently  upon  the  problem  of  building  a  boat  to 
get  away  in.  If  in  the  mean  time  a  vessel  of  some  sort 
should  heave  in  sight  I  was  prepared  to  take  advantage 
of  the  chance  ;  and  if  none  came  I  would  still  have  my 
work  started  and  no  time  unnecessarily  lost. 

Before  I  went  to  sleep  that  night  I  had  planned  a 
method  of  building  a  boat  which  I  thought  would  be 
within  the  possibility  of  accomplishment,  and  had  de- 
termined to  begin  work  on  the  morrow. 


CHAPTER  V. 

BOAT-BUILDING. 

WHEN  I  roused  the  next  morning  the  first  thought 
that  came  to  me  was  about  the  building  of  the 
boat.  It  would  be  necessary  to  have  a  shed  to  work 
under,  large  enough  to  contain  a  boat,  both  for  shel- 
ter from  the  rain  and  for  shade  from  the  pitiless  tropical 
sun.  The  building  of  such  a  shed  was  therefore  the 
first  task.  As  a  suitable  shipyard  I  selected  the  side  of 
the  stream  on  the  sands  of  the  sea-beach,  and  far  enough 
above  tide  to  be  safe  from  a  possible  storm.  Here  I 
put  up  eight  posts  in  the  sand.  To  get  these  posts 
(for  they  had  to  be  hunted  for  among  the  fallen  wood) , 
to  carry  them  one  or  two  at  a  time  for  a  distance  rang- 
ing from  half  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  to  set 
them  up  in  holes  dug  at  the  proper  distances  apart,  was 
a  whole  day's  work,  and  left  me  only  time  to  overhaul 
my  dry-salting  before  bed-time.  I  went  over  each 
piece  of  meat,  rubbing  it  again  with  salt,  and  turning  it 
the  other  side  up,  and  finished  by  putting  the  weights 
on  again  as  before.  This  salting  and  turning  every  day 
would  be  necessary  for  about  two  weeks,  and  then  the 
meat  would  be  ready  for  the  smoke-house,  which  I 
would  endeavor  in  the  meantime  to  get  ready  to  receive 
it. 

The  next  day  I  spent  getting  poles  for  rafters,  and 
lashing  them  together  to  form  the  roof  of  my  workshop. 
Then  a  rain  storm  set  in  and  lasted  three  days,  dur- 
ing which  I  was  practically  confined  to  the  house,  and 


54  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON'. 

busied  myself  indoors  with  making  an  easy  chair  out  of 
a  dry  stick  of  cedar  that  split  readily  into  straight  pieces. 
It  was  a  pleasure  to  work  in  this  soft,  straight-grained, 
fragrant  wood,  and  I  made  a  good,  strong,  comfortable 
arm-chair,  dowelling  and  cording  the  parts  together,  and 
framing  a  sort  of  base  for  it  so  that  it  would  stand  firm 
on  the  sand  floor.  I  could  now  sit  and  read  with  com- 
fort, or  look  at  the  gray,  rainy  sea  as  it  stretched  its 
misty  plane  away  before  my  door.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  I  began  to  keep  an  irregular  sort  of  journal,  enter- 
ing my  thoughts  and  doings  from  time  to  time  as  the 
enforced  semi-idleness  of  rainy  weather  prompted  me. 
Besides  pencils  and  pens  there  was  paper  enough  in  my 
stock,  wet  and  stained  and  wrinkled  though  it  had  been, 
to  last  me  indefinitely. 

As  soon  as  the  rain  was  over  I  took  the  first  day  to 
construct  my  provision  and  smoke-house,  in  order  that 
I  might  store  the  meat  in  it.  A  doorway  was  cut  from 
my  living-room  into  this  store-room,  and  I  purposed 
fitting  a  tight  door  into  it  before  smoking  my  pork.  I 
busied  myself  after  that  on  my  work-shed  until  it  was 
finished.  This  roof  I  covered  with  palm-leaves,  —  not 
leaves  of  the  cocoanut-palm,  but  of  the  great,  spreading 
fan-palm,  a  single  one  of  which  was  often  three  or  four 
feet  in  diameter.  I  had  used  these  leaves  in  making 
my  storehouse  roof,  and  had  secured  a  giant  specimen 
in  a  horizontal  position  over  my  front  door  as  a  sort  of 
porch,  and  to  keep  the  sun  out  of  the  house  when  the 
door  was  open. 

The  work-shed  when  finished  was  about  twenty-four 
feet  long  by  ten  feet  wide,  with  a  shed  or  single-pitch 
roof,  at  the  upper  side  about  eight  feet,  and  at  the  lower 
side  —  which  was  toward  the  sea  —  about  five  feet 
from  the  ground.  Underneath  was  the  clean  sand  of 
the  beach.  I  was  now  ready  to  begin  the  actual  work 


BOA  T-BUILDING.  5  5 

of  boat-building,  and  my  first  need  was  a  supply  of  clay, 
—  so  great  a  quantity,  in  fact,  as  would  take  me  several 
days  of  hard  work  to  raft  down  the  stream  to  the 
boat-shed. 

You  will  see  as  I  proceed  what  part  this  material 
was  to  play.  After  a  great  deal  of  labor,  wading  up 
and  down  the  creek,  digging,  loading,  rafting,  and  un- 
loading, I  at  last  accumulated  a  sufficient  amount  for 
my  purpose  in  a  great  heap  close  to  the  boat-shed.  I 
next  proceeded  to  smooth  the  sand  beneath  the  shed, 
and  to  compact  it  into  a  smooth,  hard  floor  as  follows : 
I  took  of  perfectly  dry  clay  several  bushels  in  fragments, 
and  crushed  these  to  a  fine  dust ;  this  dust  I  sprinkled 
evenly  all  over  the  sand  floor  to  the  depth  of  an  inch 
or  more,  sprinkling  and  wetting  the  dust  and  the  sand 
liberally  with  a  bough  dipped  in  the  sea  water.  As  the 
mixture  grew  dry  I  trampled  it  with  my  naked  feet  until 
it  was  smooth  and  firm,  sprinkling  a  little  dry  sand  on 
the  surface  and  trampling  it  in.  The  result  was  a 
dustless,  dry  floor,  hard  enough  to  support  my  weight 
readily,  and  smooth  enough  for  my  purpose. 

On  this  floor,  with  a  stretched  cord  rubbed  with 
charcoal,  I  marked,  as  carpenters  do  with  a  chalk  line, 
a  straight  line  twenty-one  feet  long  or  thereabouts ; 
this  was  to  be  the  length  of  the  boat,  and  its  centre 
line  from  stem  to  stern.  Using  the  cord  as  a  measure, 
I  laid  off  at  each  side  of  this  centre  line,  the  horizontal 
outline  of  my  proposed  boat.  The  greatest  breadth  of 
beam  I  made  about  six  feet,  and  tapered  both  the  stem 
and  the  stern  alike,  after  the  manner  of  a  whaleboat. 
At  each  end  of  the  centre  line  I  drove  a  stake  upright, 
and  notched  the  top  to  carry  a  guide  line  stretched 
from  one  to  the  other  directly  over  the  centre  line. 
Then,  with  tempered  clay,  I  marked  the  outline  of  the 
boat  by  building  up  a  little  wall  about  three  inches  in 


56  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

breadth  and  as  many  in  height  all  around  from  stem  to 
stern  on  both  sides.  The  space  inside  this  wall  I  filled 
with  sand,  sprinkled  and  compacted  until  it  was  level 
with  the  top  of  the  wall.  Then  I  added  to  the  wall 
another  course  of  clay  and  filled  in  again  ;  and  so  kept 
on  adding  and  filling  and  sloping  in  the  wall,  until  I 
had  a  mound  of  clay-coated  sand,  shaped  like  a  boat 
turned  upside  down. 

This  labor,  simple  as  it  sounds  in  statement,  took  me 
over  a  week,  and  before  it  was  done  I  was  interrupted 
by  the  necessity  for  setting  my  smoke-house  in  order  for 
curing  the  hams  and  bacon.  I  built  for  the  smoking  a 
slow  fire  of  bark,  which  required  attention  only  once  or 
twice  each  day.  The  clay  form  under  the  boat-shed 
I  left  to  get  dry  and  hard.  It  was  my  design,  as  I 
have  no  doubt  you  have  already  guessed,  to  use  this 
clay  form  as  a  core  or  groundwork,  upon  which  to 
shape  my  boat. 

The  next  step  was  a  most  serious  task;  I  had  to 
procure  a  piece  of  timber  for  a  keel,  and  shape  it  and 
fit  to  it  two  pieces,  one  at  the  stem,  and  one  at  the 
stern.  The  timber  must  be  new  and  strong.  There 
was  absolutely  no  way  to  get  this  timber  except  by 
felling  a  tree  which  must  be  at  least  a  foot  in  diameter. 
I  could  not  hope  to  do  this  with  a  pocket  knife  except 
by  an  appalling  amount  of  labor,  and  at  the  continual 
risk  of  breaking  the  blade ;  and,  moreover,  I  did  not 
want  to  subject  this  valuable  instrument  to  any  more 
wear  than  was  absolutely  necessary.  I  now  carried  it 
on  my  person  tied  securely  to  a  lanyard  as  my  most 
highly  prized  possession.  But  I  thought  I  could  man- 
age to  get  down  a  tree  by  the  aid  of  fire.  Having 
selected  the  tree,  I  plastered  the  trunk  with  wet  clay 
all  around  for  a  height  of  five  or  six  feet,  excepting  a 
space  of  about  two  feet  next  the  ground ;  then  piled  up 


BOA  T-BUILD1NG.  5  / 

dry  fuel  on  the  windward  side  and  set  fire  to  it.  After 
an  hour  or  two  the  trunk  caught  fire  and  slowly 
burned.  I  kept  checking  the  fire  from  eating  upward  by 
dabbing  wet  clay  on,  until  finally  the  tree  burned  through 
and  fell.  It  was  a  much  less  difficult  task  to  burn  it 
in  two  at  the  proper  length  after  it  was  once  down. 

This  done,  the  next  thing  was  to  reduce  the  stick  to 
the  correct  lateral  dimensions,  which  should  be  ten 
inches  by  three  or  thereabouts.  As  there  was  no  saw, 
adze,  or  axe  to  be  had,  this  reduction  could  be  done 
in  no  other  way  so  easily  as  by  splitting  the  trunk  with 
hard-wood  wedges.  I  made  several  and  charred  them 
in  the  fire,  then  sharpened  them  and  drove  four  of  them 
in  a  line  into  the  wood  of  the  trunk  at  equal  distances 
apart.  By  judicious  management,  driving  them  little  by 
little,  one  after  another,  the  trunk  was  riven  asunder, 
and  a  second  split  produced  a  piece  of  the  right  size 
when  a  little  had  been  split  off  from  each  edge.  The 
plank  was  not  as  smooth  as  if  turned  out  by  a  saw  mill ; 
but  it  was  strong  and  was  smooth  enough  for  my  pur- 
pose. I  dragged  it  down  to  the  boat-shed,  and  went 
back  to  the  log  and  split  off  in  like  manner  a  piece  of 
suitable  size  to  make  the  stem  and  stern  posts.  I  set 
the  keel  timber  up  on  edge  on  the  clay  mould,  securing 
it  temporarily  with  some  lumps  of  clay  until  I  could  mark 
the  correct  length.  The  stem  and  stern  posts  I  cut  and 
halved  on  to  the  keel,  pinning  them  on  by  pins. 

The  drill  by  means  of  which  T  bored  the  holes  for  the 
pins  was  fashioned  by  inserting  a  piece  of  sharp  chal- 
cedony splinter  into  a  split  stick  and  securely  wrapping 
the  stick  with  a  piece  of  cord.  This  stick  or  shank, 
which  was  about  two  feet  in  length,  carried  a  ball  of 
dry  clay  of  three  or  more  pounds  in  weight,  and 
mounted  about  six  inches  from  the  chalcedony  point. 
Through  the  upper  end  of  the  shank  was  a  hole  passing 


58  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

through  which  was  a  cord  secured  at  each  end  to  a  loose 
cross-stick  about  a  foot  long.  By  twisting  this  cord 
around  the  shank  the  movement  up  and  down  of 
the  loose  cross-stick  would  cause  the  drill  to  revolve 
first  in  one  direction  and  then  in  the  other,  the 
momentum  of  the  whirling  ball  of  clay  causing  the 
apparatus  to  continue  its  motion  far  enough  to  rewind 
the  cord.  This  device  is  much  used  by  primitive 
peoples,  and  it  certainly  proved  a  most  effective  instru- 
ment to  me  ;  for  without  renewing  the  drill  point  I 
bored  five  holes  at  each  end,  through  the  keel  piece 
and  the  uprights. 

The  gunwale  I  made  by  splitting  cane  into  long,  thin 
strips  half  an  inch  in  width,  and  laying  these  in  a  bundle 
tied  securely  round  every  three  or  four  inches  with  a 
wrapping  of  cord.  By  this  means  I  produced  a  sort 
of  stiff,  untwisted  cable.  I  secured  the  ends  of  these 
gunwale  cables  firmly  to  the  stem  and  stern  uprights  by 
cord  passed  through  holes.  I  next  got  a  great  store  of 
a  sort  of  long,  slender-stemmed  creeper,  which  I  fancy 
must  have  been  a  species  of  climbing  palm,  though 
I  am  not  sure  :  for  there  was  no  description  of  it  in  my 
books.  The  wood  of  this  creeper  was  tough  and  ex- 
ceedingly fibrous.  Of  it  I  proposed  to  make  the  ribs  of 
the  boat,  setting  them  about  three  inches  apart  along 
the  whole  length  of  the  boat.  The  creepers  which  I 
chose  for  this  purpose  were  about  half  an  inch  in 
diameter,  and  smooth  and  uniform  in  size.  Holes  drilled 
through  the  keel  piece  close  to  the  clay  mould  permitted 
the  passage  of  these  ribs  over  the  mould  from  gunwale 
to  gunwale,  where  they  were  fastened  by  being  inserted 
in  the  mass  of  cane  splints  and  securely  tied  there  with 
several  wrappings  of  coir.  Of  course  I  had  to  stop 
this  work  from  time  to  time  to  manufacture  the  necessaiy 
supply  of  coir. 


B  OA  T-B  UILDING.  5  9 

Such  interruptions  were  a  relief  to  me,  and  I  would 
sit  in  the  shade  of  the  palms  spinning  away  and  think- 
ing of  my  Mohawk  Valley  home,  or  gazing  out  upon 
the  broad  sea,  where  the  perfect  shading  from  deep  blue 
to  faint  cobalt  and  fainter  green,  the  long  swell,  and 
the  transparent,  curling  breakers,  the  restless  sea  fowl, 
and  the  serene,  cloud-flecked  sky,  formed  a  view  of 
which  I  never  tired.  It  is  a  mistake,  it  seems  to  me,  to 
speak  of  the  sea  as  a  lonesome  thing.  Its  ceaseless 
motion,  its  constant  change  of  color  and  of  mood,  never 
exactly  alike  and  yet  never  entirely  unlike,  all  lend  to  it 
an  indefinable  charm.  It  may,  indeed,  be  filled  with 
solitude,  but  it  also  is  filled  with  companionship  for  the 
solitary,  as  I  learned  then  to  realize. 

The  island  was  the  home  of  an  astonishing  number  of 
species  of  small  birds ;  several  different  varieties  of  the 
parrot  family  flew  from  tree  to  tree  in  flocks ;  different 
kinds  of  finches,  many  of  bright  plumage,  in  great  num- 
bers haunted  the  bushes  about  the  stream ;  larks,  fly- 
catchers, gorgeous  scarlet  tanagers,  little  wrens,  and 
tiny  humming-birds  were  very  numerous.  The  bird 
that  I  took  most  interest  in  was  a  daring  little  fel- 
low, perhaps  some  sort  of  wren,  of  a  brownish  color, 
specked  with  pearly  white  spots.  This  self-contained 
and  self-satisfied  little  fowl  had  a  habit  of  carrying  his 
tail  stuck  straight  up  in  the  air  and  cocking  his  head  to 
one  side  in  a  most  comical  manner.  This  species 
seemed  quite  fearless  of  me,  and  I  often  saw  them 
come  hopping  up  on  the  ground  near  to  where  I  sat, 
as  though  bent  on  ascertaining  what  sort  of  creature  I 
was.  Scarcely  bigger  than  a  walnut,  with  a  tiny  "  chirp, 
chirp,"  these  dainty  creatures  seemed  to  be  introducing 
themselves  politely  to  me,  and  deprecating  any  possible 
unfriendliness  that  might  have  arisen,  or  might  thereafter 
arise  between  us  on  account  of  an  occasional  seed 


6O  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

stolen  from  my  stack.  At  one  time  I  had  the  notion  to 
capture  one  or  more  of  these  little  birds  and  train  them 
as  pets ;  but  their  courage  and  confidence  utterly 
disarmed  me. 

When  all  the  vine  ribs  had  been  fitted  to  the  boat 
the  next  thing  was  to  apply  an  exterior  sheathing.  This 
also  I  constructed  of  the  long  smooth  creepers,  uniform 
in  size  and  laid  close  together  each  piece  extending 
the  whole  length  of  the  boat.  I  secured  the  ends  of 
these  vines  to  the  stem  and  stern  pieces  by  setting  them 
into  a  groove  or  rebate,  and  dowelling  a  piece  of  wood 
down  firmly  upon  them.  At  intervals  I  sewed  or  tied 
the  rib  and  plank  vines  together  with  strong  thin  cord. 
When  this  was  done  I  had  the  form  of  a  boat,  but  of 
course  it  would  leak  like  a  sieve,  and  moreover  would 
be  crank  as  a  basket.  The  next  thing  was  to  procure 
some  sort  of  gum  or  resin,  with  which  to  coat  the  whole 
structure  and  thus  bind  it  all  together  and  strengthen  it, 
as  well  as  to  make  it  water-tight. 

There  were  trees  of  the  pine  or  fir  species  growing 
on  the  island,  high  on  the  rocky  backbone.  I  could 
see  them  distinctly,  and  had  little  doubt  that  they  would 
furnish  me  with  at  least  some  of  the  ingredients  for  a 
sort  of  pitch,  that  might  be  made  to  answer  my  purpose. 
Up  to  this  time  I  had  never  ascended  the  precipitous 
rocks  and  cliffs  which  formed  a  miniature  mountain- 
range  running  north  and  south  through  the  centre  of 
the  island.  Now  I  resolved  to  make  the  attempt  and 
to  ascertain  definitely  what  could  be  found  there  in  the 
way  of  pitch  or  resin,  among  the  several  species  of  ever- 
greens. To  ascend  these  cliffs  and  rocks  through  the 
thickets  and  tangled  vines  was  no  easy  task.  Giant 
beds  of  fern,  fallen  tree-trunks,  jungles  of  thorny  bush, 
barred  the  way  apparently  at  all  points.  The  most 
feasible  route  seemed  to  be  up  a  chasm  through  which 


BOA  T-B  UILDING.  6 1 

came  a  tinkling  rivulet  to  join  the  stream,  with  many  a 
fall  and  leap,  boiling  now,  and  now  dashing  in  spray 
over  the  fern-embowered  rocks.  It  was  a  hard,  hot 
climb.  The  humming-birds,  like  flying  jewels,  —  rubies, 
topazes,  amethysts,  lapis  lazuli, — darted  to  and  fro  in 
a  dozen  varieties,  pausing  to  hover  over  the  deep,  scar- 
let chalices  of  the  trumpet  flower.  Far  above  in  the 
clear,  deep  blue  of  heaven  slowly  swung  a  circling  vul- 
,ture  on  motionless  wing,  a  mere  speck  against  the 
light. 

At  last  I  reached  the  top,  a  sort  of  broken  rocky 
plateau  covered  with  trees  among  which  were  numer- 
ous evergreens.  After  a  brief  rest  to  recover  breath,  I 
examined  some  of  the  trees,  and  found  to  my  great 
delight  a  species  of  pitch  pine  among  them.  The  scaly, 
reddish  bark  was  bedewed  with  tears  of  gum  which  I 
knew  would  with  a  little  boiling  or  drying  be  converted 
into  a  hard  resin.  Without  losing  any  time  I  went  to 
work  with  my  knife  upon  the  trees.  I  bared  a  place  of 
its  bark  on  each  of  a  dozen  trunks,  about  three  feet  in 
height  and  six  inches  in  width,  and  cut  a  notch  at  the 
bottom  to  collect  the  gum,  scoring  the  bared  place  with 
cross  cuts  at  intervals  of  a  few  inches.  This  occupied 
me  until  it  was  within  two  hours  of  sunset,  and  I  dared 
stay  no  longer  that  day,  for  fear  of  being  benighted  on 
the  way  home. 

Early  next  morning  I  returned  with  my  lasso,  an 
earthenware  vessel,  and  my  burning-glass.  The  wounded 
trees  had  already  begun  to  yield  a  supply  of  sticky  sap 
or  gum,  which  I  scraped  down  and  collected  in  the 
earthen  pot,  until  it  was  quite  full.  I  placed  this  to 
melt  and  boil  over  a  slow  fire  and  proceeded  to  wound 
about  a  dozen  more  trees.  That  night  I  slept  on  the 
summit,  and  worked  hard  all  next  day  collecting  and 
boiling  the  resin,  so  that  when  I  went  the  next  night  to 


62  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

the  house  I  was  able  to  carry  with  me  twenty-five  or 
thirty  pounds  of  the  material,  —  a  hard,  dark  resin. 

At  this  labor  I  spent  about  a  week  longer,  sometimes 
going  home  at  night,  and  sometimes  sleeping  on  the 
rocks,  until  I  had  got  together,  as  I  thought,  sufficient 
for  my  purpose.  Now  I  wanted  some  grease  to  mix 
with  the  resin,  and  concluded  to  kill  a  pig  for  this  pur- 
pose. I  had  to  wait  two  days  to  find  the  herd,  but  fin- 
ally succeeded  in  capturing  a  fine  young  porker,  which 
yielded  a  good  store  of  lard  and  fat,  much  more  in- 
deed than  I  needed  for  the  pitch  kettle,  as  well  as  a 
fine  supply  of  fresh  pork-chops  and  some  meat  for  the 
smoke-house. 

I  melted  the  resin  in  my  five-gallon  pot,  and  added 
to  it  sufficient  melted  pig-fat,  so  that  the  pitch  when 
cold  would  be  quite  stiff  and  hard,  but  not  brittle.  With 
this  hot,  tenacious  pitch  I  payed  the  whole  exterior  of 
the  boat  with  a  good  thick  coat,  penetrating  and  filling  all 
the  interstices.  When  this  was  hard  and  cold  I  tried 
to  lift  the  boat  from  the  clay  core  in  order  to  turn  it 
over.  To  my  disgust  I  found  that  the  pitch  had  stuck 
it  fast  to  the  core  in  a  thousand  places,  so  that  it  could 
not  be  moved.  There  was  nothing  to  do,  therefore,  ex- 
cept to  undermine  the  whole  structure,  dig  the  sand  out, 
and  take  out  the  dry,  hard  clay  from  below,  piece  by 
piece,  —  an  immense  labor,  as  you  may  well  conceive. 
But  this  was  finally  accomplished  without  injury  to  the 
boat.  I  found  that  the  structure  was  entirely  too  flexi- 
ble for  practical  navigation,  and  that  it  would  be  nec- 
essary to  deck  over  the  greater  part,  if  for  no  other 
reason  than  to  stiffen  it.  I  decided  to  make  an  air- 
tight compartment  at  each  end,  extending  about  three 
feet,  and  carry  a  deck  fore  and  aft  over  the  entire  boat, 
excepting  a  well  hole  in  the  middle,  six  feet  long  by 
three  feet  wide,  which  was  to  be  surrounded  by  a  wash- 


B  OA  T-B  UILDING.  63 

board,  or  raised  edge,  about  six  inches  in  height.  Having 
cleared  away  the  debris,  I  turned  my  boat  right  side  up. 

I  was  very  anxious  to  get  this  boat  completed,  and 
had  been  working  hard  at  it  every  day  for  over  a  month. 
I  wanted  to  know  if  it  would  at  least  float  properly, 
and  therefore  labored  from  early  dawn  to  dark  without 
cessation.  One  night  I  had  been  restless  and  wake- 
ful, and  got  up  without  appetite  for  parched  seed  and 
smoked  meat.  Fancying  this  was  merely  from  excitement 
about  the  work,  and  from  want  of  variety  in  diet,  I  con- 
cluded that  the  next  day  I  would  knock  off  work  for  a 
time  and  go  fishing.  But  when  I  went  down  to  the  shed 
and  got  to  work  I  felt  tired  and  languid.  There  was  a 
great  pain  in  my  head,  chilly  sensations  ran  up  and 
down  my  back,  and  pains  in  the  limbs  and  a  general 
depression  of  spirits  warned  me  of  an  approaching  ill- 
ness. Fearing  a  collapse  I  started  for  the  house,  when 
suddenly  I  grew  faint  and  fell  on  the  sand,  and  lay 
there  for  several  hours,  a  fierce  fever  raging  through  me. 
An  intense  thirst  stimulated  my  feeble  energies  to  make 
one  or  two  attempts  to  reach  the  house ;  but  I  failed 
and  crawled  back  to  the  shed.  Once  I  managed  to 
reach  the  creek  and  get  a  drink,  but  it  was  preferable  to 
suffer  thirst,  I  thought,  rather  than  make  the  attempt 
again.  About  sundown  the  fever  left  me,  and  though 
much  weakened  I  felt  well  enough  to  get  to  the  house, 
light  a  candle  from  the  last  sparks  of  my  neglected  fire, 
and  turn  into  my  hammock. 

Evidently  I  was  seized  with  some  malarious  disorder. 
Anxious  to  know  what  I  could  do  for  myself  in  the  way 
of  medicine,  I  got  the  Dispensatory  and  began  a  search 
for  febrifuges.  I  could  not  hope  to  find  Peruvian  bark 
on  the  island  as  this  region  was,  I  conceived,  out  of  its 
habitat.  However,  I  made  pencil  notes  of  every- 
thing I  could  find  mentioned  as  a  febrifuge.  Among 


64  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

other  things  I  noted  that  it  was  customary  in  the  Cam- 
pagna  near  Rome  for  the  fever-stricken  inhabitants  to 
make  a  sort  of  tea  of  sliced  lemons,  which  was  said  to 
cure  the  Campagna  fever.  Now  I  remembered  to  have 
seen  wild  limes  growing  along  the  upper  part  of  the 
creek,  and  thought  if  I  could  get  strength  enough  to 
gather  some  the  next  day  I  would  try  an  infusion  of 
them. 

That  night  I  slept  pretty  well,  and  in  the  morning  got 
up  feeling  fairly  well.  But  warned  by  yesterday's  ex- 
perience, I  dreaded  a  recurrence  of  the  chill  and  fever, 
either  that  day  or  the  next.  So  I  went  immediately  and 
gathered  a  quantity  of  the  ripest  of  the  limes.  These  I 
sliced  thin  with  my  knife  and  poured  boiling  water  over 
them  in  a  small  vessel,  and  set  them  aside  to  steep.  As 
soon  as  the  infusion  was  cold  I  took  a  small  sip  to 
see  what  the  effect  would  be.  I  found  no  bad  conse- 
quences, and  in  an  hour  took  another  larger  sip.  This 
I  kept  up  every  hour  all  day,  and  did  some  work  on  the 
boat.  That  night  I  drank  about  a  quart  of  hot  water, 
and  buried  myself  in  a  bed  of  dry  grass  in  the  house, 
with  a  small  fire  going.  I  was  soon  in  a  profuse  perspira- 
tion, and  after  a  while  fell  sound  asleep  and  awoke  in  the 
morning  hungry.  Whether  the  lime  tea  checked  the 
fever,  or  whether  the  attack  was  no  more  than  a 
passing  biliousness,  I  do  not  know.  At  any  rate  I  soon 
recovered,  and  was  not  ill  again  while  on  the  island. 

I  now  resumed  work  persistently  on  the  boat,  and 
finally  the  air-tight  compartments  and  decking,  made 
like  the  rest  of  the  vessel  of  vines  coated  with  pitch, 
were  done.  I  got  some  rollers  under  the  boat  and 
pushed  it  into  the  creek,  where  it  floated  true  and  buoy- 
ant as  I  could  desire.  Mooring  it  securely  I  got  on 
board  and  found  it  stanch,  and  every  way  much  better 
than  I  had  hoped.  To  my  great  joy  it  did  not  leak  a 


BOAT-BUILDING.  65 

drop,  though  I  had  expected  to  have  a  great  deal  of 
patching  to  do. 

My  next  task  was  to  rig  a  mast  and  sail.  The  mast 
I  had  already  brought  down  from  the  heights,  in  the 
form  of  a  slender  evergreen,  trimmed  and  peeled  of  its 
bark.  Nor  was  I  long  in  stepping  and  rigging  it  with 
the  necessary  stays.  The  making  of  the  sail  was  a  much 
longer  matter.  I  had  given  this  question  a  great  deal 
of  thought,  and  while  at  work  on  the  boat  had  carefully 
weighed  several  different  devices,  but  had  been  unable 
to  hit  upon  a  feasible  plan.  Therefore  I  deferred  it 
until  the  very  last  thing,  fitting  on  a  rudder  and  even 
making  and  burning  a  water  jar  and  a  cover  for  it  to 
contain  a  supply  of  fresh  water  on  board,  before  regu- 
larly beginning  work  on  the  sail.  Finally,  however,  all 
was  finished  except  the  sail,  and  I  was  forced  to  the 
task.  The  best  thing  I  could  think  of  for  the  purpose 
was  strips  of  bark  woven  on  cord  after  the  fashion  in 
which  some  window  blinds  are  made  from  wooden  slats 
and  cord  ;  and  as  this  could  best  be  used  with  what  I 
believe  is  termed  a  latteen  rig,  that  is  to  say  a  single 
short  mast  in  the  centre  of  the  boat,  with  a  long  yard 
suspended  at  its  top  and  inclined  upward  from  the  bow 
aft,  upon  which  the  sail  is  hung,  I  changed  my  mast  and 
stepped  it  to  suit  such  a  rig.  Then  I  procured  a  long, 
slender,  tapering  pole  for  a  yard.  I  found  a  tree  with  a 
smooth,  flexible  inner  bark,  and  after  a  great  deal  of 
labor  secured  a  sufficient  quantity,  cut  in  strips  one  and 
a  half  inches  in  width,  and  some  of  it  as  long  as  the 
boom.  Then  I  spun  a  great  quantity  of  cord,  and  tied 
doubled  lengths  of  it  to  the  boom  at  intervals  of  a  foot. 
Then  laying  the  boom  down  on  the  beach  I  placed  a 
strip  of  the  bark  alongside  it  and  tied  it  there  with  all 
the  cords  ;  by  the  side  of  that  I  added  another  a  little 
shorter  and  tied  it,  and  so  on  until  I  had  built  up  a 

5 


66  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

triangular  sail  of  the  bark  strips  attached  to  the  boom 
by  the  cords,  the  strips  running  parallel  with  the  boom. 
In  order  to  make  it  hold  the  wind  better,  I  punched 
holes  in  the  edges  of  the  bark  strips,  and  tied  the  edges 
of  adjacent  strips  together. 

When  I  had  this  sail  complete  and  rigged  to  the 
mast  the  wind  was  blowing  away  from  the  shore,  and 
I  had  to  wait  until  the  next  day  to  give  it  a  trial.  But 
I  made  everything  ready,  including  food  and  water  and 
a  ballasting  of  stones,  and  on  the  next  morning,  the  wind 
blowing  quietly  on  shore,  I  went  on  board,  cast  off,  and 
poled  the  craft  out  of  the  creek,  watching  a  good  chance 
to  push  her  through  the  breakers  at  the  bar.  I  got 
safely  out,  and  hoisted  the  sail.  For  a  moment  she  fell 
off  and  rose  and  sunk  with  the  swell,  but  taking  the  wind 
fair,  presently  leaned  down  until  the  lee  gunwale  was 
nearly  buried  in  the  green  water,  and  began  to  forge 
ahead  rapidly,  fairly  sliding  through  the  water,  with  the 
wake  running  away  behind  and  a  white  curl  of  foam 
racing  from  the  bow.  I  tried  her  on  all  tacks,  on  and 
off  the  wind,  ratching  and  running  before  it,  and  found 
that  the  best  point  of  sailing  was  on  the  wind.  This 
was  entirely  satisfactory.  So  delighted  was  I  with  the 
operation  of  the  boat  that  I  tacked  away  in  stretches  of 
two  or  three  miles  until  I  had  beat  up  a  good  league 
from  the  island,  and  then  turned  and  ran  before  the 
wind  straight  for  the  creek,  where  I  arrived  safe,  and 
moored  the  boat  securely  in  her  snug  harbor. 

The  building  of  this  boat  had  taken  me  three  months  ; 
but  it  was  at  last  finished,  and  offered  me  a  means,  at 
the  first  fair  wind,  of  sailing  away  for  Martinique  or 
some  adjacent  island,  a  port  which  I  could  fairly  expect 
to  make  in  two  or  three  days  at  farthest.  I  went  to  bed 
that  night  in  a  happier  and  more  contented  frame  of 
mind  than  I  had  theretofore  experienced  on  the  island. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

"DUKE  2D,  PROPERTY  OF  H.  SENLIS." 

S  the  wind  next  day  was  in  the  wrong  quarter,  I 
set  deliberately  about  lading  my  new  boat,  as  far 
as  my  means  went,  with  all  the  provisions  and  appli- 
ances that  seemed  necessary  for  the  voyage.  This  was 
all  done  by  noon,  and  I  sat  down  idly  to  wait  for  a 
wind  that  should  promise  settled  weather,  and  be  in  the 
right  direction.  The  first,  second,  and  third  days 
passed  without  any  prospect  of  change,  and  I  grew  very 
impatient.  Things  seemed  to  have  lost  their  interest  for 
me.  The  one  idea  of  getting  away  drove  all  else  out  of 
mind.  I  walked  to  and  fro  along  the  beach  like  a 
caged  animal,  overhauled  my  cargo,  added  to  it, 
changed  the  water  in  my  storage  jar,  and  did  a  hundred 
useless  things.  Still  the  breeze  blew  softly  and  steadily 
from  the  south  of  east,  —  a  head  wind,  which  would 
oblige  me  to  ratch  all  the  way  to  Martinique. 

On  the  third  night,  as  I  was  sitting  out  on  the  beach 
in  the  moonlight,  I  bethought  me  of  the  ancient  rhyme 
of  the  mariner  who,  cursed  by  everlasting  head  winds, 
toiled  on  day  by  day  only  to  be  blown  back  night  after 
night.  There  was  plenty  of  time  now  to  plan  what  I 
should  do  when  I  reached  Martinique.  Up  to  this 
time  I  had  not  thought  it  out  very  carefully.  So  to  pass 
the  dreary  hours  I  began  to  go  over  the  whole  pro- 
gramme mentally.  The  more  I  thought  about  it,  how- 
ever, the  less  prospect  could  I  see  of  getting  at  Marti- 
nique what  appliances  and  assistance  I  wanted,  even  if 


68  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

I  had  possessed  money  enough.  I  should  have  to  go 
clear  back  to  New  York  to  get  another  diving  apparatus, 
and  that  of  itself  would  consume  the  greater  part  of 
my  funds. 

When  this  conviction  forced  itself  on  my  mind,  I  was 
aghast.  Must  I  give  up  the  search  for  the  treasure- 
ship  merely  for  lack  of  funds,  after  all  my  trouble  and 
expense  ?  I  sprang  up  and  began  walking  up  and  down 
the  sand  at  the  very  edge  of  the  breakers,  like  a  wild 
man.  Abandon  my  enterprise  ?  Never,  never !  I 
would  rather  stay  and  die  on  the  island  than  do  that. 
Why  not,  indeed,  stay  on  the  island  and  take  my 
chances.  I  had  built  a  boat  out  of  nothing,  and  why 
could  I  not  contrive  some  means  for  at  least  finding  the 
sunken  galleon  and  locating  it  accurately?  Then,  with 
something  definite  in  prospect,  it  would  surely  not  be 
difficult  to  go  to  Martinique  and  there  interest  somebody 
else  to  furnish  the  necessary  funds  for  the  enterprise,  and 
divide  the  proceeds.  There  seemed  to  be  wisdom  in 
this  course,  and  I  resolved  to  adopt  it  forthwith. 

Even  as  I  made  this  resolution  a  heavy  cloud  passed 
over  the  moon,  a  faint  breeze  stirred  through  the  rat- 
tling palm-leaves,  and  putting  up  a  moistened  finger  I 
found  the  wind  had  changed  to  the  southwest ;  soon  it 
began  to  increase,  and  in  an  hour  there  was  a  fine 
steady  breeze  blowing  exactly  from  the  best  quarter  for 
my  voyage,  if  I  had  chosen  to  take  advantage  of  it.  I 
was  thankful  at  that  moment  that  it  had  not  come 
sooner.  I  looked  long  and  musingly  upon  the  darken- 
ing water  and  it  must  have  been  nearly  midnight  when, 
after  seeing  carefully  to  the  security  of  my  boat,  I  turned 
into  the  hammock  with  a  contented  mind,  and  buoyed 
up  by  a  firm  resolve  to  succeed. 

In  the  morning,  as  I  was  going  down  to  the  stream, 
I  saw  approaching  along  the  sands  a  dog.  Nothing 


"DUKE  2D,   PROPERTY  OF  H.  SENLIS."         69 

could  have  been  more  astonishing  to  me  than  this 
sight.  What  could  a  dog  be  doing  on  this  island? 
When  and  how  did  he  get  here?  Where  dogs  are, 
there  also  are  men.  This  dog  could  never  have  come 
here  alone.  The  animal  saw  me  as  soon  as  I  saw  him, 
and  came  running  up  wagging  his  tail  in  the  tnost 
friendly  way,  running  around  in  half-circles,  and  barking 
with  delight.  I  called  him  up  and  stroked  his  head. 
He  was  a  fine  black  Gordon  setter,  with  an  intelli- 
gent high-bred  appearance.  Around  his  neck  a  chain 
collar  bore  a  plate  engraved  "  Duke  ad,  property  of  H. 
Senlis."  "Duke,  good  Duke,"  said  I,  "where  is  your 
master  ?  "  But  the  only  answer  Duke  could  make  was 
a  series  of  delighted  contortions,  jumps,  and  short  barks. 
I  went  to  the  house  and  got  some  dried  turtle-meat, 
which  he  ate  voraciously,  and  seemed  to  call  for  more. 
When  I  had  fed  him  all  he  seemed  to  demand  he 
curled  up  on  the  sand  as  contentedly  as  though  this  was 
a  long  sought  resting-place.  With  his  head  over  one 
paw  and  one  eye  occasionally  opening  to  look  at  me,  he 
was  the  very  picture  of  contentment  and  satisfaction. 

As  I  sat  eating  my  breakfast  of  parched-seed  gruel 
and  broiled  bacon,  and  looking  at  the  dog  curled  up  on 
the  sandy  floor  of  my  house,  I  speculated  on  the  method 
of  his  arrival  on  the  island.  Was  he  shipwrecked  like 
myself,  or  left  by  some  hunting  party?  Was  he  here 
alone,  or  were  those  to  whom  he  belonged  still  on  the 
island ;  and  if  so  where  were  they  ?  The  whole  island 
was  not  above  six  or  seven  miles  in  length,  and  three  or 
four  in  breadth.  Yet  the  dense  forest  growth,  the 
jungles  and  cane-brakes,  the  central  ridge  of  precipitous 
rocks  could  easily  conceal  the  presence  of  other  people, 
especially  if  they  were  on  the  other  side.  At  any  rate  I 
thought  it  high  time  for  me  to  take  a  careful  survey  of 
the  entire  domain,  and  this,  if  for  no  other  purpose,  to 


7O  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

satisfy  my  curiosity  aroused  by  the  startling  advent  of 
Duke  2d. 

When  I  first  saw  the  dog  he  was  coming  up  appar- 
ently from  the  southern  end  of  the  island,  and  I  con- 
cluded to  start  in  that  direction  down  the  beach,  and  go 
as  far  as  possible  along  the  sea,  —  quite  around  the 
whole  island  if  that  were  practicable.  With  this  view  I 
packed  my  haversack  with  provisions,  and  filled  my 
large  bottle  with  fresh  water,  and  swung  it  by  a  cord 
under  my  arm.  Taking  my  lasso  and  lance  and  burning- 
glass,  I  started  down  the  beach.  Duke  followed  or  ran 
on  before,  as  much  pleased  apparently  as  though  we 
were  on  a  gunning  expedition.  The  beach  extended 
south  from  my  house  for  a  distance  of  about  three  miles, 
and  then  terminated  in  a  low,  rocky  shore  covered  with 
cactus  and  thorny  shrubs.  Beyond  this  the  southern- 
most extremity  of  the  island  extended  in  a  rocky  head- 
land, and  there  were  some  low  rocks  detached  from  the 
shore  and  covered  at  high  tide,  forming  dangerous 
breakers,  to  which  a  navigator  rounding  the  southern 
cape  would  wish  to  give  a  wide  berth. 

In  the  sand  and  among  the  rocks  where  the  cactus 
grew  I  captured  an  armadillo.  This  harmless  little 
creature,  about  the  size  of  a  sucking  pig,  was  called  to 
my  attention  by  the  dog,  which  had  discovered  it  and 
seemingly  did  not  know  what  to  make  of  such  a  strange 
customer,  covered  with  its  curious,  horny  armor.  Duke 
was  sniffing  and  jumping  back  and  barking,  when  I 
caught  sight  of  the  hindquarters  of  the  armadillo  just 
disappearing  in  the  sand.  The  animal  was  burrowing 
itself  out  of  sight  with  astonishing  rapidity  in  the  loose 
soil.  At  first  I  could  not  conceive  what  it  was,  as  it 
appeared  from  the  view  I  had  more  like  some  sort  of  a 
reptile  than  an  animal.  But  I  speedily  recognized  it, 
and  pulled  it  bodily  out  of  the  tunnel  it  was  excavating. 


"DUKE  2D,  PROPERTY  OF  H.  SENLIS."         Jl 

The  little  fellow  did  not  attempt  to  run  away,  but  curled 
itself  up  into  a  ball  with  its  head  and  feet  tucked  out  of 
sight.  Duke  went  up  to  it  and  turned  it  several  times 
over  with  his  paw,  but  evidently  could  have  inflicted  no 
injury  upon  it  had  he  been  minded  to  make  the  attempt. 
However,  as  roast  armadillo  is  noted  as  a  savory  dish  I 
speedily  put  an  end  to  its  life  by  inserting  my  knife 
blade  between  the  joints  of  its  armor,  and  it  was  added 
to  our  larder  at  once. 

We  now  crossed  over  through  the  rocks  to  the  west 
shore,  which  was  formed,  so  far  as  I  could  see,  of  rocks 
and  cliffs,  which  rose  bolder  and  higher  toward  the 
north.  The  travelling  along  these  cliffs  was  very  bad, 
and  at  a  break  I  descended  to  the  narrow  margin  of 
sand  and  rocks  at  their  feet,  left  bare  by  the  receding 
tide.  Here  the  walking  was  fairly  good,  and  we  made 
our  way  along  at  a  good  pace  for  a  mile.  Now  the  shore 
rose  boldly  up  in  a  sheer  cliff  nearly  a  hundred  feet  in 
height,  and  the  beach  was  little  more  than  a  mass  of 
fallen  rock.  In  a  shallow  indentation  or  bay  we,  or 
rather  the  dog,  discovered  bubbling  up  through  the 
sand  a  spring  of  cold,  pure  water  which  must  have  been 
under  the  sea  at  high  tide.  There  was  also  an  abun- 
dance of  small  oysters  attached  to  the  rocks,  and  I  ate 
of  them  for  my  lunch. 

At  this  spring  I  refilled  my  water  bottle  and  sat  down 
to  rest  in  the  shade  of  the  rocks.  The  dog  seemed 
very  uneasy  for  some  reason,  and  thinking  there  might 
be  some  animal  about,  I  got  up  and  looked  around. 
To  my  great  alarm  I  soon  discovered  that  the  tide  had 
risen  so  far  as  partly  to  submerge  some  of  the  rocks 
that  were  dry  when  1  had  passed  a  half-hour  before.  It 
would  be  no  trifling  matter  to  be  caught  in  this  place 
by  the  tide ;  but  whether  it  were  best  to  go  on  or  go 
back  I  could  not  tell.  However,  as  I  knew  the  road 


72  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

behind  me  I  determined  to  retrace  my  steps.  I  had 
not  gone  a  quarter  of  a  mile  before  I  found  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  pass  in  that  direction.  Whether 
it  would  be  practicable  to  proceed  in  the  other  I  could 
not  foresee ;  it  was  so  doubtful  that  I  had  no  time  to 
lose.  So  I  hurried  back  again  to  the  spring,  where  a 
margin  of  sand  was  still  uncovered  by  the  rising  waves. 
Here  I  soon  found  that  advance  as  well  as  retreat  along 
the  water  was  cut  off.  Above  me  frowned  the  perpen- 
dicular cliffs.  The  situation  seemed  full  of  desperate 
peril,  and  was  grave  enough  in  all  reason. 

I  felt  much  as  one  might  fancy  a  rat  feels  when  the 
door  of  the  trap  snaps  on  him,  and  breathless  he  circles 
about  and  finds  no  exit.  Duke  was  crouched  down 
and  shivering  as  with  an  instinct  of  apprehension. 
There  was  a  sense  of  numb  despair  with  it  all  —  a  sick- 
ening sense  of  giving  up  the  fight,  as  though  it  were 
useless  to  strive  against  brutal  ill  fortune.  Why  did  I 
ever  come  into  this  rat-trap?  Now  a  man  should  not 
waste  any  time  or  thought  on  vain  repinings,  self  indig- 
nation or  accusation,  under  such  circumstances,  but 
turn  his  attention  to  the  real  question,  and  keep  his  eye 
fixed  firmly  and  singly  on  the  main  chance.  But  it  is 
not  always  easy  to  think  when  and  of  what  you  ought. 
Indeed,  I  found  myself  speculating  as  to  how  the  end 
would  come.  Inch  by  inch  the  water  would  creep  up. 
Duke  would  first  be  swept  under,  unless  I  chose  to 
support  him  for  a  while.  Then  little  by  little  I  would 
be  submerged,  knees,  middle,  chest,  shoulders,  neck, 
chin,  lips,  —  and  then  the  final  struggle.  I  cast  my 
eyes  up  to  see  how  far  above  my  height  the  water  would 
rise.  The  marks  of  high  water  were  there  plain  on  the 
cliff,  and  I  calculated  that  I  should  be  submerged  at 
least  eight  feet  at  high  water. 

All  along,  the  rock  rose  sheer  up  without  a  break  to 


"DUKE  2D,   PROPERTY  OF  H.  SENLIS^        73 

the  very  top.  There  was  one  place,  however,  where 
the  cliff,  undermined  by  the  waves,  had  split  off  and 
fallen  down,  making  a  ledge  about  twenty-five  or  thirty 
feet  above  the  water's  edge ;  but  there  seemed  to  be 
no  way  of  climbing  up  to  this  ledge,  —  indeed  it  over- 
hung the  base.  Upon  it  grew  two  or  three  small  trees, 
and  one  of  them  leaned  out  over  the  sea.  When  my 
faculties  once  more  began  to  assert  themselves,  it  oc- 
curred to  me  that  it  might  be  possible  to  cast  the  end 
of  my  lasso  over  this  projecting  tree-trunk  and  thus 
perhaps  haul  myself  up  to  the  ledge  hand  over  hand. 

The  conception  of  this  idea  was  almost  equivalent  to 
its  execution  ;  I  felt  that  I  was  saved.  To  one  end  of 
the  lasso  I  tied  a  stone,  and  secured  the  other  end 
firmly  around  the  body  of  the  dog.  This  stone  I  cast 
easily  over  the  tree  trunk,  and  swung  the  rope  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  weighted  end  would  twist  several  times 
around  the  body  of  the  rope.  I  pulled  and  tested  it 
with  my  weight,  and  it  held  firm.  Casting  my  lance  up 
on  the  ledge,  I  climbed  hand  over  hand  up  the  rope, 
occasionally  steadying  myself  with  feet  against  the  rock, 
until  I  had  a  firm  grasp  on  the  trunk  and  was  safely  on 
the  platform.  Leaning  over  I  called  to  the  dog,  and 
when  he  came  up  close  to  the  rock  I  spoke  to  him 
kindly  to  allay  his  fears,  and  then  hauled  him  up.  The 
platform  was  at  least  ten  feet  wide  at  the  middle  part, 
perhaps  forty  feet  long,  and  tapered  away  to  a  mere 
ledge  at  each  end.  There  was  plenty  of  dry  dead  sticks 
and  wood  which  had  fallen  down  from  above,  and,  as 
the  afternoon  sun  shone  hot  and  bright  in  the  western 
sky,  it  was  not  long  before  I  had  kindled  a  fire  with  my 
burning-glass,  and  had  spitted  the  armadillo  for  a  roast. 

I  now  sat  and  watched  the  sea  rise  and  wash  in 
breakers  on  the  base  of  the  cliff,  and  shuddered  to  think 
what  would  have  been  my  fate  but  for  the  lasso  and  the 


74  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

timely  aid  it  afforded  me.  I  watched  a  glorious  sunset 
wherein  long  bars  of  purple  cloud  edged  with  molten 
gold,  and  fleecy  flakes  of  burning  vermilion  melted  on 
a  sky  of  gray-green  light,  over  an  ocean  of  dark  blue 
shot  with  violet,  and  here  and  there  tinted  and  gilded 
with  crimson  and  gold  from  the  red,  flaming  ball  that 
was  just  dipping  to  the  horizon.  And  far  into  the  night 
I  sat  awaiting  the  rising  of  the  moon,  the  novelty  of  the 
situation  driving  all  inclination  for  sleep  from  me. 
Duke  was  a  good  companion,  and  inclined  to  sit  out  the 
company.  He  lay  with  his  head  on  my  knee,  occasion- 
ally looking  up  into  my  face  in  a  truly  sociable  and 
friendly  manner. 

About  nine  o'clock  at  night,  there  being  then  a  dead 
calm,  I  heard  distinctly  the  beat  of  a  screw  propeller, 
accompanied  by  the  regular  blowing  at  slow  intervals  of 
escaping  steam.  I  looked  all  about  for  the  vessel,  and 
presently  made  out  her  mast-head  light,  like  a  star 
quivering  on  the  horizon.  Gradually  it  lifted  above  the 
water  in  the  southern  sky,  and  I  knew  it  would  pass  me 
quite  near  at  hand  unless  its  course  were  changed. 
There  were  still  some  embers  of  my  fire  alight,  and 
nothing  would  have  been  easier  than  to  make  a  signal 
which  doubtless  would  have  been  seen  on  board.  But 
though  I  gathered  the  embers  together  instinctively,  I 
took  no  step  toward  making  the  signal.  She  drew 
nearer  and  nearer,  and  finally  passed  along  the  coast 
not  half  a  mile  distant,  trailing  a  long  plume  of  smoke. 
So  near  was  she  at  one  time  that  in  the  starlight  and 
upon  the  light  of  the  sea  I  could  distinguish  her  form 
and  build,  and  conjectured  that  she  was  some  ocean 
tramp,  sliding  along  stern  deep  down,  and  nose  cocked 
out  of  the  water,  looking  for  a  cargo  from  port  to  port, 
—  an  iron  steamer,  such  as  are  sent  out  by  thousands 
now-a-days  to  wander  over  all  the  seas  and  oceans,  and 


"DUKE  2D,  PROPERTY  OF  H.  SENLIS."         75 

which,  going  from  port  to  port,  finally  return  to  the  home 
port,  perhaps  when  it  is  time  to  lay  their  sides  and  ribs 
into  the  junk  heap  for  old  iron. 

When  the  moon  rose  the  steamer  was  a  pale,  gray 
spot  at  the  end  of  a  long  stain  of  dark  smoke  far  in  the 
northern  horizon.  It  finally  disappeared,  the  smoke 
fading  away  and  mingling  with  the  faint  mist-wreaths 
that  stole  up  from  the  sea  under  the  moonlight.  I  went 
to  bed  on  the  rock  with  Duke  coiled  up  beside  me,  and 
slept  until  broad  day.  I  found  the  water  still  too  high 
for  me  to  descend  safely  to  the  sand ;  the  tide  had  ap- 
parently gone  out  and  was  coming  in  again.  I  did  not 
much  like  the  idea  of  descending  again  to  the  foot  of 
the  cliff  if  it  could  be  avoided,  because  there  was  no 
telling  whether  I  could  safely  proceed  farther  to  the 
north ;  nor  was  I  yet  ready  to  go  back  home,  for  I 
intended,  if  possible,  to  make  the  complete  circuit  of 
the  island. 

Therefore  I  turned  my  attention  to  that  portion  of 
the  cliff  that  rose  above  my  ledge.  After  a  careful 
scrutiny  I  concluded  it  would  be  possible  to  reach  the 
top  by  climbing  a  tree  that  grew  close  to  the  rock.  A 
narrow  ledge  could  be  reached  from  the  upper  limbs, 
and  it  led  along  the  face  of  the  rocks  for  a  few  steps  to 
a  sort  of  crack  or  chasm  up  which  one  might  easily 
clamber  to  the  top.  I  climbed  down  to  the  beach  as 
soon  as  the  water  was  low  enough,  and  filled  my  bottle 
anew  at  the  spring,  Duke  howling  and  barking  all  the 
time,  as  though  in  great  distress  at  being  deserted.  I 
returned  to  the  ledge,  fastened  the  end  of  the  lasso 
around  the  dog,  and  climbed  up  the  tree  with  my  lance, 
haversack,  and  water  bottle.  With  some  difficulty  I 
reached  the  chasm  safely,  and  proceeded  to  haul  up  the 
dog.  From  there  the  climbing  was  not  difficult  to  the 
top. 


7 6  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

Here  was  a  considerable  forest,  similar  to  the  growth 
on  the  central  mountainous  plateau  of  the  island  where 
I  went  for  pitch.  Indeed,  as  well  as  I  could  then  see, 
and  as  afterward  I  found  to  be  the  case,  this  line  of 
cliffs  was  connected  with  the  central  plateau  by  a  ridge 
running  east  and  west.  There  was  a  valley  between  the 
cliffs  and  the  plateau,  divided  into  two  parts  by  this  trans- 
verse ridge.  The  travelling  through  the  woods  on 
the  cliff  was  not  difficult,  as  there  was  very  little 
undergrowth. 

I  made  a  discovery  in  this  wood  of  several  lofty  trees 
which  bore  nuts  of  the  triangular  variety  known  as 
Brazil  nuts.  They  grow  enclosed  in  a  hard  outer  casing 
like  a  small  cannon-ball.  One  of  these  fell  as  I  passed 
beneath  the  tree.  If  it  had  struck  Duke  or  me  there  is 
no  estimating  the  hurt  that  would  have  been  occasioned. 
It  fell  fairly  on  a  projecting  root,  and  burst  open, 
scattering  the  loose  nuts  about.  I  gathered  a  haversack 
full  and  filled  my  shirt  and  pockets,  casting  uneasy 
glances  the  while  up  into  the  trees  in  fear  of  a  possible 
bombardment  from  above ;  nor  did  we  linger  long 
under  those  dangerous  limbs. 

Pushing  along,  as  near  the  edge  of  the  cliffs  as  possi- 
ble, we  came,  near  the  middle  of  the  island,  north  and 
south,  to  a  well  beaten  path  leading  down  toward  the 
sea  through  a  break  in  the  cliffs.  Duke  immediately 
bounded  down  this  path,  and  I  followed  him  anxiously ; 
for  it  did  not  look  as  though  made  by  pigs,  but  rather 
as  if  trodden  by  human  feet.  The  narrow  gorge  speed- 
ily widened  out  into  a  little  bowl-shaped  valley,  open  to 
the  sea  on  one  side,  and  on  three  sides  walled  in  by  the 
cliffs,  which  were  hung  with  luxuriant  vegetation,  —  a 
most  lovely  spot.  A  gently  sloping  sward  extended 
nearly  to  the  pebbly  beach,  and  a  little  stream  of  clear 
water,  which  came  frothing  in  haste  down  the  glen, 


"DUKE  2D,  PROPERTY  OF  H.  SENLIS."         77 

paused  in  a  quiet  sweep  and  curve  through  the  meadow, 
the  long  grass  bending  over  its  narrow  course,  and  dip- 
ping into  the  limpid  surface,  till  finally  it  flowed  down 
over  a  bed  of  bright-colored  pebbles  to  the  little  bay  in 
front.  Here  and  there  a  wide-spreading  tree  cast  a 
broad,  purple  shadow,  and  many  flowers  sent  forth  fra- 
grance to  the  pure,  warm  air.  It  was  truly  a  sylvan 
paradise. 

What  specially  interested  me,  however,  was  the  white 
gleam  of  canvas  shining  through  the  foliage.  A  tent 
was  pitched  near  the  stream.  I  called  out  to  announce 
my  presence,  but  nobody  appeared,  and  going  up  to 
the  structure,  I  found  it  vacant  and  deserted.  The  tent 
was  made  of  a  huge  mainsail,  stretched  over  a  pole  and 
secured  to  the  ground  by  pegs.  It  evidently  had  been 
long  deserted,  perhaps  a  month  ;  the  rains  had  washed 
the  ashes  of  a  fire  nearly  all  away.  In  the  trunk  of  an 
adjacent  tree  stuck  an  axe,  buried  to  the  helve  as  though 
by  a  powerful  hand.  The  metal  was  all  covered  with 
red  rust,  and  so  firmly  imbedded  in  the  gash  that  I 
could  not  release  it  until  I  had  pounded  it  out  with  a 
stone.  A  further  search  disclosed  a  dish  broken  in  half, 
a  rusty  case-knife,  a  hand-saw,  an  iron  kettle,  a  frying- 
pan,  which  lay  in  the  tent,  and  fragments  of  old  news- 
papers and  letters  strewed  about.  In  one  corner  were 
two  blankets  rolled  loosely  together  and  somewhat  mil- 
dewed. I  hauled  these  blankets  and  also  an  old  topsail 
out  of  the  tent,  and  spread  them  in  the  sun  to  dry. 

Then  I  wandered  about  seeking  some  clew  as  to  who 
had  been  here  and  how  long  since  ;  but  conjecture  was 
idle.  At  the  mouth  of  ihe  creek  there  was  a  tree  with 
the  marks  on  it  of  a  mooring  line  ;  and  the  trace  of  the 
line  was  still  faintly  visible  on  the  earthy  bank.  The 
most  probable  supposition  was  that  a  party  of  pig-hunt- 
ers had  landed  here,  and  for  some  reason  had  been 


78  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

suddenly  called  away.  That  they  had  left  hurriedly 
was  evident  both  from  the  standing  tent  and  its  con- 
tents, and  also  from  the  fact  that  a  garden  had  been 
planted,  which  was  now  grown  up  to  rank  luxuriance. 
In  this  garden  was  a  great  quantity  of  yams  and  sweet 
potatoes,  most  of  them  just  in  a  condition  to  be  gath- 
ered ;  also  peas  and  beans  quite  dry  and  ripe,  and  some 
Indian  corn,  the  last  still  green.  A  rusty  shovel  and 
hoe  were  lying  there  just  as  they  had  been  left.  I  made 
no  scruple  to  help  myself  to  what  I  wanted  of  this 
abundant  harvest  that  chance  had  placed  in  my  hand. 
It  was  not  long  before  I  had  a  fire  built  and  the  kettle 
on,  and  some  of  the  yams  and  sweet  potatoes  boiling. 
These  vegetables  eaten  hot,  with  salt  and  bacon,  were 
to  my  unaccustomed  palate  more  delicious  than  I  can 
describe.  Duke  also  ate  of  them  ravenously. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  after  packing  up 
the  new-found  property  in  the  tent  as  securely  as  I 
could,  I  hurried  away  to  the  north  along  the  cliffs,  anx- 
ious to  reach  home  in  order  to  get  my  boat  and  return 
for  these  treasures ;  for  treasures  indeed  would  this  abun- 
dant supply  of  food  as  well  as  the  other  things  be  to 
me.  About  a  quarter  of  a  mile  north  of  this  little 
haven,  which  I  named  "  Farm  Haven,"  the  cliffs  ran  back 
from  the  sea,  leaving  a  broad,  smooth  beach  which  gave 
an  excellent  road  quite  to  the  northern  extremity  of  the 
island,  excepting  at  one  place  where  I  was  obliged  to 
wade  waist  deep  across  the  mouth  of  a  deep  indenting 
cove.  At  the  northern  end  were  isolated  rocks,  one  of 
which  rose  boldly  up  to  a  height  of  fifty  or  sixty  feet 
and  was  surrounded  by  the  water  even  at  low  tide. 
After  clambering  over  the  rocks  for  an  eighth  of  a  mile 
I  struck  again  the  smooth,  incurving  beach  that  margined 
the  eastern  shore,  and  before  dark  reached  home. 

Everything  about  the  house  was  just  as  I  had  left 


"DUKE  2D,  PROPERTY  OF  H.    SENLISr        79 

it,  and  the  boat  was  gently  heaving  to  the  modified 
swell  that  penetrated  in  gentle  undulations  to  its  safe 
harbor  in  the  creek.  I  sat  long  that  evening  enjoying 
the  cool  air,  and  speculating  on  the  events  of  my  jour- 
ney. I  had  not  found  Duke's  master,  but  could  account 
at  least  in  some  measure  for  his  presence  on  the  island ; 
for  he  had  been  undoubtedly  forgotten  in  the  hurried 
departure  of  the  party  whose  camp  I  had  just  visited. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    WATER-GLASS. 

THE  morning  broke  fair  with  a  gentle  breeze  from 
the  west,  which  would  enable  me  to  make  the 
run  easily  in  a  couple  of  hours.  I  put  on  board  two 
light  poles  which  might,  if  necessary,  serve  for  oars,  and 
rigged  a  couple  of  loops  on  the  washboard  at  each  side, 
through  which  to  thrust  them  when  they  were  to  be 
used.  After  taking  on  board  a  supply  of  water,  and  food 
enough  for  several  days  in  case  I  should  chance  to  be 
blown  out  to  sea.  and  not  forgetting  my  lasso  and  burn- 
ing-glass, I  called  Duke  on  board,  hoisted  the  sail,  and 
cast  off.  Out  through  the  creek  mouth,  over  the  bar, 
and  through  its  breakers  slid  the  little  craft,  and  as 
soon  as  we  were  fairly  outside  I  bore  up  and  ran 
straight  for  the  north  cape,  with  a  fair  beam  wind. 
The  fresh  morning  air,  the  dew  still  wet  on  the  boat, 
the  sun  scarce  a  span  above  the  sea,  the  cool,  blue 
water  sliding  by,  the  breaking  of  the  surf  as  it  ran 
angling  along  the  strand,  all  acted  like  a  cordial  to  my 
spirits.  Duke  sat  up  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  eyeing 
the  whole  proceeding  with  a  critical  air,  hardly  willing 
to  yield  an  entirely  unqualified  approval,  and  yet 
not  ready  to  advance  any  positive  objection.  I  fairly 
burst  into  a  laugh  at  his  quizzical  expression.  He 
sprang  up  wagging  his  tail  and  came  to  me  and  laid 
his  head  on  my  knee,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  It  is  all  right, 
I  see." 

Before  reaching  the  cape  I  eased  off  a  little  with  the 
intention   of  running   approximately   over   the    region 


THE    WATER-GLASS.  8 1 

where  the  sunken  galleon  was  supposed  to  lie.  The 
spot,  according  to  the  admiral's  account,  was  about 
a  mile  east  of  north  from  the  rocky  point,  and  I  wanted 
to  sound  as  far  out  in  this  direction  as  my  forty-foot 
line  would  allow,  if,  as  I  hoped,  there  should  chance  to 
be  any  shallow  that  would  allow  me  to  reach  bottom  at 
all  near  the  shore.  The  yellowish  color  of  the  water  off 
the  cape  gave  token  of  an  extensive  shoal  in  this  direc- 
tion, as  did  also  the  peculiar  action  of  the  swell,  which 
seemed  half  inclined  to  break  as  it  passed.  With  a 
stone  tied  to  the  line,  I  sounded  as  soon  as  I  passed  the 
cape,  and  found  at  two  hundred  yards  from  shore  not 
over  twenty  feet  of  water.  This  depth  increased  very 
gradually  until  the  full  length  of  the  line,  forty  feet  or 
thereabouts,  ran  out  at  a  distance  of  an  eighth  of  a  mile 
from  the  shore,  showing  that  there  was  a  long  shoal  or 
submerged  spit  extending  out  from  the  north  end  of  the 
island. 

As  soon  as  I  left  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  shore, 
where  the  breakers  stirred  up  the  bottom,  the  water 
became  beautifully  clear  and  transparent,  so  that  at  my 
last  sounding  I  saw,  or  fancied  I  saw,  the  gleam  of  the 
bright  sand  shining  up  from  below.  I  now  lowered  the 
sail  to  test  if  there  was  any  current  running,  but  beyond 
a  slight  movement,  I  could  detect  nothing.  I  was  now 
far  enough  from  the  cape  so  that  I  could  take  a  slant 
to  the  southwest  and  easily  clear  the  rocks.  So  I  hauled 
up  the  sail  and  brought  her  head  around.  Soon  we 
were  spinning  along  the  western  shore,  and  in  an  hour 
were  off  the  "  Farm  Haven,"  toward  which  I  turned,  and 
running  into  the  mouth  of  the  little  stream  moored  the 
boat  safely  and  landed. 

There  was  a  busy  day  before  me,  and  I  lost  no  time 
in  beginning  work.  First  of  all,  I  threw  the  ballast 
overboard  to  make  room  for  a  cargo  of  yams  and 

6 


82  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

potatoes.  I  next  wove  out  of  willow  branches  a 
rough  basket,  or  rather  a  sort  of  shallow  tray,  to 
carry  them  to  the  boat.  I  dug  and  loaded  fully 
five  bushels  of  fine,  clean  sweet  potatoes  and  a 
number  of  large  yams,  and  the  supply  remaining  in  the 
ground  would  have  filled  my  boat  a  half-dozen  times. 
I  next  turned  my  attention  to  the  dry  peas  and 
beans,  and  gathered  about  a  bushel  of  each,  besides  a 
number  of  great  scarlet  pepper-pods.  Then  I  took 
down  the  tent  and  put  it  aboard,  as  well  as  the  axe,  the 
shovel,  the  hoe,  and  the  sail  and  blankets.  I  boiled 
a  lot  of  yams  for  dinner,  and  this  being  over  at  about 
three  in  the  afternoon,  I  called  Duke  and  went  up  the 
gully  path  to  the  top  and  looked  about  a  little  to  see 
what  prospect  there  might  be  for  a  path  over  the  island 
to  the  other  side.  In  a  straight  east  and  west  line  the 
distance  could  not  be  over  three  and  a  half  to  four 
miles. 

There  was  a  ridge  running  back  from  the  cliff  to  the 
central  plateau,  which  I  thought  might  afford  an  easy 
path,  and  I  knew  that  once  on  this  central  plateau  I 
could  descend  to  the  stream  and  so  reach  home. 
Having  seen  this  much  I  returned  to  the  boat,  and 
casting  off  pole.d  out  as  far  as  possible  to  get  an  offing. 
By  short  tacks  I  managed  finally  to  get  far  enough  to 
venture  on  my  northern  slant.  But  the  sun  was  almost 
down  when  I  rounded  the  north  cape  and  started  down 
the  other  shore. 

Just  as  I  came  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  the 
wind  died  away,  and  I  hastened  to  get  out  my  rude 
poles  and  row  into  the  harbor.  This  was  a  terrible 
task,  and  if  the  wind  had  not  gone  down  I  much  doubt 
whether  I  could  have  done  it  at  all  until  the  tide  turned. 
But  at  last  we  made  the  creek  and  moored  the  boat 
safely  with  its  precious  cargo.  I  was  too  tired  that 


THE    WATER-GLASS.  83 

night  to  do  more  than  unload  the  tools,  blankets,  can- 
vas, and  cooking  utensils,  leaving  the  vegetables  on 
board  till  morning.  That  night  being  oppressively 
warm,  I  swung  my  hammock  under  the  open  work- 
shed,  and  lulled  by  the  music  of  the  breakers,  slept 
soundly  until  broad  day. 

The  first  work  on  hand  was  the  care  of  my  cargo  of 
potatoes.  These  with  the  beans  and  peas  I  carried  up 
to  the  dark,  dry  store-room.  Some  of  the  potatoes 
I  buried  in  the  dry  sand,  to  test  its  preservative  proper- 
ties. As  a  future  provision  I  turned  up  with  the  spade 
a  little  patch  of  soil  near  the  creek  and  planted  half  a 
dozen  hills  of  yams  and  potatoes  in  a  favorable  spot, 
and  a  row  of  the  beans  and  peas,  guarding  the  latter 
from  the  birds  with  a  layer  of  brush.  This  occupied 
the  greater  part  of  the  day. 

In  the  afternoon  I  drew  a  wire  nail  out  of  the  chest, 
with  which  to  make  a  fish-hook.  The  back  of  the  axe 
formed  a  good  anvil,  and  the  shank  of  the  hoe,  the 
wooden  handle  being  removed,  did  fairly  well  for  a 
hammer.  With  these  tools  I  fashioned  the  red-hot 
nail  into  hook  form,  using  for  tongs  a  pair  of  clam 
shells.  I  drew  the  point  out  sharp,  bent  the  hook,  and 
cut  a  barb  over  the  edge  of  the  axe.  The  head  of  the 
nail  was  left  intact  to  secure  the  line.  As  this  was  iny 
first  effort  at  blacksmithing  the  hook  was  not  perhaps 
as  elegant  as  it  might  have  been,  but  it  looked  as  though 
it  might  work  satisfactorily.  For  a  line,  I  unlaid  and 
retwisted  some  pieces  of  hempen  rope  that  had  formed 
reef  points  on  the  sail  of  the  tent,  and  coated  them  well 
with  candle-berry  wax.  I  made  a  wooden  float  for  a 
bob  and  fitted  a  stone  for  a  sinker,  so  that  by  bed-time, 
my  fishing-tackle  was  finished,  together  with  a  good 
hundred  feet  of  stout  line. 

That  night  a  rain  set  in.  and  it  continued  steadily  for 


84  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

three  days  without  ceasing,  varying  only  between  a 
violent  downpour  and  a  fine,  driving  mist  from  the 
northeast.  I  could  not  work  out  of  doors  in  such 
weather;  so,  gathering  a  great  quantity  of  cocoanut 
husks,  I  busied  myself  hour  after  hour  spinning  coir. 
I  wanted  to  make  a  good,  strong,  sounding-line  at  least 
a  hundred  fathoms  long,  and  a  line  of  equal  length  by 
which  to  anchor  a  buoy  as  a  guide  in  the  submarine 
search  operations.  Thus  the  time  was  by  no  means 
lost,  though  the  confinement  was  exceedingly  irksome. 
Duke  made  an  occasional  dash  out  into  the  wet,  and 
once  returned  carrying  in  his  mouth  an  armadillo  rolled 
up  tight  in  a  ball,  which  afforded  us  a  variation  in  diet. 

But  the  sky  finally  cleared  and  I  hastened  out  to  try 
my  fishing-tackle.  Anchoring  the  boat  just  beyond  the 
breakers  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  I  baited  my  hook 
with  a  shell-fish  and  cast  it  over,  letting  the  line  run 
slowly  out  as  the  hook  sank  toward  the  bottom,  and 
then  hauling  it  up  and  repeating  the  operation.  Pres- 
ently I  got  a  tremendous  bite,  and  drew  in  a  fish  that 
weighed  about  fifteen  pounds.  It  was  a  red  snapper,  and 
proved  most  excellent  eating.  This  was  fishing  enough 
for  once,  and  I  pulled  to  shore  and  set  about  cooking 
part  of  my  prize.  Soon  the  air  was  redolent  with  the 
odor  of  fried  fish,  and  both  Duke  and  I  regaled  our- 
selves with  fish  and  potatoes,  washing  them  down  with 
pure,  sweet  water  cool  from  the  porous  water-jar. 

I  now  set  about  the  construction  of  an  apparatus  by 
the  aid  of  which  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  make  a  recon- 
naissance of  the  bottom  of  the  shallow  sea,  where  the 
sunken  galleon  was  supposed  to  lie.  I  went  out  with 
my  axe  to  the  upland  and  cut  down  a  fine  cedar  tree. 
This  I  split  until  I  procured  four  rough  but  slight  slabs, 
an  inch  thick  and  about  a  foot  in  width,  sawing  them 
to  a  length  of  about  three  feet.  I  pinned  these  securely 


THE    WATER-GLASS.  85 

together  in  the  form  of  a  rectangular  tube  a  foot  in 
diameter  and  three  feet  long,  and  in  one  end  of  the 
tube  fitted  a  tight  cedar  bottom.  In  this  bottom  I  cut 
an  aperture  just  large  enough  to  receive  one  of  my 
glass  photograph  plates,  five  inches  by  seven,  and  after 
cleaning  off  the  sensitive  gelatine  coating  securely  fitted 
it  in  place  like  a  window.  With  melted  pitch  I  payed 
freely  all  the  joints  and  seams,  so  that  the  structure 
was  perfectly  water-tight,  and  then  blackened  the  wood 
on  the  inside  with  a  mixture  of  pulverized  charcoal  and 
hot  wax,  so  that  it  would  reflect  no  light. 

Before  this  was  finished  the  rains  set  in  again  and 
continued  for  a  whole  week.  I  concluded  that  the 
annual  rainy  season  must  now  be  at  hand.  For  though 
the  sky  would  occasionally  clear  for  a  day  or  part  of 
a  day,  the  showers  were  so  frequent  that  the  house  grew 
damp  and  unwholesome,  and  I  was  obliged  to  air  it 
every  day  with  a  rousing  fire  in  the  fireplace,  the  heat 
of  which  drove  me  to  seek  shelter  under  the  work- 
shed.  The  weather  was  so  uncertain  that  I  did  not 
dare  to  venture  out  in  the  boat  further  than  a  few 
hundred  feet,  and  then  with  a  line  fast  to  the  shore ; 
this  I  occasionally  did  for  the  purpose  of  fishing,  and 
always  with  good  luck,  catching  the  red  snappers,  rock 
cod,  and  various  other  varieties,  all  of  which  found  their 
way  to  the  larder. 

It  was  on  one  of  these  occasions  that  I  tried  my  new- 
made  contrivance,  the  water-glass.  When  the  closed 
end  of  this  was  submerged  over  the  side  of  the  boat, 
by  looking  in  at  the  open  upper  end  I  could  plainly  see 
the  bottom  and  the  fish  swimming  about  my  hook.  Of 
course  I  was  very  anxious  to  try  the  apparatus  in 
deeper  water  to  ascertain  how  far  the  vision  could 
penetrate.  But  the  weather  would  not  render  it  possible 
without  too  great  risk.  The  value  of  such  a  device  would 


86  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

depend  entirely  upon  the  clearness  and  depth  of  the 
water.  I  knew  from  written  accounts  that  the  sponge 
fishers  use  a  similar  contrivance,  —  frequently  a  wooden 
bucket  with  a  pane  of  glass  in  the  bottom,  which  they 
call  a  "  sponge  glass,"  and  with  which  they  search  for 
sponges  and  conch  shells  in  the  Bermudas,  employing 
it  with  perfect  success,  in  clear  water,  even  at  a  consider- 
able depth.  The  sponge  glass  enables  the  operator  to 
overcome  the  surface  agitation  and  reflection  of  the 
water,  just  as  a  thin  transparent  sheet  of  ice  sometimes 
renders  the  bottom  of  a  deep  pond  visible  to  a  skater. 

One  morning,  when  there  was  an  almost  perfect  calm, 
I  noticed  on  the  surface  of  the  sea  a  long  streak  extend- 
ing from  a  point  about  half  a  mile  from  shore  away 
toward  the  eastern  horizon  until  it  was  lost  in  the  dis- 
tance. This  appearance  was  so  curious  and  inexplicable 
that  after  gazing  at  it  for  a  while,  both  from  the  beach 
and  from  the  top  of  a  palm,  I  finally  rowed  the  boat  out 
to  it,  and  found  that  it  was  muddy  water,  with  leaves, 
grass,  and  vegetation  floating  in  it,  and  a  great  number 
of  cocoanuts  bobbing  about  among  the  other  fragments 
and  detritus.  It  looked  precisely  as  though  the  contents 
of  some  slack  water  lagoon  connecting  with  the  sea  had 
been  suddenly  swept  out  by  a  freshet  or  some  extraor- 
dinary current.  Among  the  floating  matter  were  in- 
numerable sea  beans,  as  they  are  called,  —  a  sort  of  nut 
or  seed  that  is  sometimes  used  as  an  ornament  for 
watch  chains,  —  also  little  scarlet,  egg-shaped  seeds,  like 
those  that  are  picked  up  in  such  quantities  on  the 
Florida  beaches.  But  there  was  no  sea-weed  with  the 
other  detritus.  This  mass  of  matter  slowly  travelled 
along  the  surface  and  by  the  next  day  was  out  of  sight. 
I  suppose  to  a  more  skilled  observer  the  phenomenon 
might  have  proven  a  valuable  aid  in  determining  the  set 
of  the  currents,  or  other  natural  facts  worthy  of  note. 


THE    WATER-CLASS.  87 

While  out  on  this  excursion  I  several  times  tried  the 
water-glass,  but  found  the  sea  so  charged  with  matter 
and  so  cloudy  and  milky  that  I  could  see  but  indistinctly 
and  to  no  great  depth.  This,  however,  did  not  dis- 
courage me,  as  I  knew  the  water  was  likely  to  change 
in  this  respect  from  week  to  week. 

There  came  upon  the  island  at  this  time  great  num- 
bers of  pelicans.  They  would  light  on  the  beach  in 
large  flocks,  and  sit  there  for  hours,  apparently  resting 
from  a  long  flight ;  then  all  together,  as  by  a  concerted 
signal,  they  would  rise  and  in  an  irregular  body  wing 
their  way  to  the  south.  Duke  took  great  delight  in 
hunting  these  birds,  and  would  watch  by  the  hour  for 
their  arrival.  As  soon  as  a  flock  appeared  in  the 
northern  sky  he  would  prick  up  his  ears,  all  attention, 
and  wait  until,  circling  about,  they  alighted.  Then  he 
would  begin  a  deliberate  attempt  to  stalk  them,  creeping 
along,  belly  to  the  ground,  until  nearly  up  to  them,  then 
making  a  bold  rush,  but  always  without  success,  the 
birds  on  such  occasions  merely  rising  and  circling  to 
another  resting-place.  He  would  come  in  after  this 
sport  wet  with  the  rain  and  panting  with  exertion,  and 
appeared  to  look  with  reproach  at  my  lack  of  interest 
in  the  game,  as  though  he  would  say,  "Where  is  your 
gun,  you  idle  fellow?"  But  I  had  no  use  for  pelicans. 
Indeed,  I  still  had  too  vivid  a  remembrance  of  the 
peculiar  flavor  of  gull  meat  to  hanker  after  fish-eating 
birds  of  any  sort,  as  food.  The  white  crane,  or  heron, 
and  the  beautiful  pink  and  white  ibis  also  made  their 
appearance  occasionally  in  flocks ;  but  they  were  so 
shy  and  difficult  to  approach  that  I  could  never  get 
within  a  hundred  yards  of  them. 

Penetrating  one  morning,  in  spite  of  the  drizzling 
rain,  to  a  part  of  the  forest  just  under  the  rocky  plateau, 
I  came  upon  some  trees  about  thirty  or  forty  feet  in 


88  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

height  having  flowers  variegated  with  purple,  yellow, 
green,  and  red,  and  bearing  at  the  same  time  fruit  in 
the  form  of  great  gourds.  This  I  found  was  what  is 
known  as  the  calabash  tree  {Crescentia  cujete).  I  col- 
lected a  number,  of  different  sizes,  and  carried  them 
home  through  the  rain.  The  hard,  wood-like  shells 
could  readily  be  cut  with  the  knife  and  saw,  yet 
they  were  strong  and  tough.  With  this  raw  material, 
already  partially  shaped  to  hand,  I  set  about  making 
various  kinds  of  vessels,  —  domestic  and  culinary  uten- 
sils, a  water-bottle  to  carry  on  my  tramps  and  excur- 
sions, etc.  With  four  great  gourds  lashed  together 
I  constructed  a  buoy  for  subsequent  use  in  my  marine 
explorations,  and  with  a  number  of  small  ones  I  made 
a  life-preserver  as  a  part  of  my  boat  equipment.  It  was 
a  great  comfort  to  have  a  dish  to  eat  from  once  more. 
Indeed,  I  had  often  regretted  that  I  did  not  bring  with 
me  the  two  halves  of  the  broken  dish  which  I  had  seen 
at  the  "  Farm  Haven."  My  two  developing-trays  with 
their  deep  sides  had  proved  but  inconvenient  substi- 
tutes ;  besides,  they  were  generally  kept  for  other  uses. 
Taken  altogether  there  was  no  single  vegetable  product 
of  the  island  that  contributed  more  to  my  comfort  than 
the  calabash  tree. 

As  I  now  had  plenty  of  canvas  I  concluded  to  rig  my 
boat  anew  and  change  it  from  the  awkward  latteen  rig 
to  that  of  a  sloop  with  mainsail  and  jib.  The  want  of 
a  needle  and  thread  to  sew  the  sails  was  a  great  draw- 
back, but  I  made  shift  to  use  an  awl  made  out  of  a  leg 
of  a  compass  belonging  to  my  drawing  instruments,  and 
for  thread  a  slender  cord  made  of  coir.  I  rigged  the 
jib  with  a  traverse  so  that  it  needed  no  special  attention 
except  to  be  hauled  aft  when  I  went  about,  and  the 
mainsail  with  a  gaff  and  throat  halliards,  that  it  might 
be  lowered  by  the  run  upon  emergency ;  I  also  pro- 


THE    WATER-GLASS.  89 

vided  both  jib  and  mainsail  with  three  rows  of  reef 
points,  that  I  might  show  little  or  much  canvas,  as  the 
state  of  the  wind  should  require.  With  axe  and  saw 
and  knife  I  fashioned  a  good  pair  of  cedar  oars,  light 
and  strong,  and  fitted  thole-pins  in  the  gunwales  to 
receive  them ;  I  put  a  pair  of  thole-pins  in  the  stern 
for  sculling,  and  had  a  spare  oar  for  use  in  case  of 
breakage. 

The  weather  continued  stormy,  with  rain  nearly  every 
day,  and  frequently  for  several  days  together  without 
cessation.  I  passed  most  of  the  time  under  the  boat- 
shed,  and  generally  slept  there  at  night,  as  the  climate 
was  very  mild  and  warm  notwithstanding  the  rains. 
Moreover,  I  had  now  two  blankets  to  sleep  in  at  night, 
and  lay  quite  warm  and  comfortable  in  my  hammock. 
The  house  I  used  as  a  kitchen,  dining-room,  store-room, 
and  library.  It  was  quite  impossible  to  read  elsewhere 
at  night,  for  the  candle  could  not  be  kept  alight  in  the 
open-sided  shed.  I  read  all  the  books  through  delib- 
erately, including  the  German  Word-book.  I  would  lie 
in  my  swinging  hammock  by  the  hour  during  the  day- 
time and  read  even  the  Dispensatory  faithfully  through 
while  the  rain  pattered  on  the  roof,  with  an  occasional 
"  swish,  swish,"  as  the  eddying  wind  drove  it  with 
greater  or  less  violence  against  the  house.  That  I 
should  find  the  dry  details  of  a  Dispensatory  sufficiently 
interesting  to  make  the  continuous  reading  of  them  even 
endurable  expresses  well  the  desperate  dulness  of  my 
lonesome  surroundings.  Duke  slept  much,  and  I  envied 
him  his  capacity  for  slumber.  He  would  lie  in  a  dry 
spot  and  snooze  for  fifteen  minutes  at  a  time,  get  up  and 
gape  and  stretch,  then  lie  down  and  shiver  and  drop  to 
sleep  with  one  eye  open,  and  so  alternating  pass  the 
day.  Sometimes  I  would  practice  on  him  with  German 
words  from  the  Word-book,  which  he  understood, 


go  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

so  far  as  I  could  see,  quite  as  well  as  English.  At 
any  rate,  when  I  spoke  he  wagged  his  tail,  and  thus 
demonstrated  that  he  was  a  good  fellow  and  not  dis- 
posed in  any  degree  to  criticise  or  find  fault  with  the 
personal  peculiarities  or  the  language  of  a  friend. 

At  last  one  clear,  bright  morning,  when  the  birds  were 
noisily  rejoicing  and  the  butterflies  were  out  in  their 
gala  dresses,  I  undertook  an  expedition  by  land  to 
the  "  Farm  Haven."  The  creek  was  swollen  deep 
with  the  rains,  so  that  I  could  not  conveniently  travel 
up  the  bed.  Therefore  I  made  my  way  north  along 
the  beach  for  a  mile,  and  struck  west  through  the  jun- 
gle at  the  most  open  place  I  saw.  By  an  occasional 
use  of  the  axe  I  forced  a  path  through  to  the  rocks, 
which  happened  here  to  be  low,  and  speedily  gained 
the  central  plateau.  At  the  point  where  I  mounted  the 
rocks  I  found  great  quantities  of  ripe  whortleberries 
growing  on  low  bushes,  and  of  large  size  and  exquisite 
flavor.  I  ate  my  fill  of  these  and  pressed  on  along  the 
plateau  looking  for  the  connecting  ridge.  The  walking 
was  not  bad  on  this  upland,  as  there  was  no  tangled 
mass  of  undergrowth,  and  the  trees  grew  well  apart. 
The  ridge  was  not  difficult  to  find  and  proved  easily 
passable,  so  that  I  made  shift  to  reach  the  cliffs  long 
before  noon. 

Being  near  them  I  went  to  the  Brazil-nut  trees  and 
gathered  a  peck  or  more  of  the  nuts,  filling  my  haver- 
sack quite  full  as  well  as  my  pockets.  Duke  here 
chased  a  little  animal  which  I  fancied  must  be  what  is 
called  an  agouti ;  but  as  he  did  not  catch  him  I  could 
not  know  positively.  However,  this  persistent  hunter 
soon  after  managed  to  tree  an  animal  which  I  had  no 
difficulty  in  recognizing  as  the  familiar  raccoon.  I  had 
no  idea  until  I  saw  this  specimen  that  this  plantigrade 
was  to  be  found  in  the  Caribbean  islands.  There  was, 


THE    WATER-GLASS.  9 1 

however,  no  mistaking  the  identity  of  the  species.  It 
was  undoubtedly  a  genuine  "  coon."  The  silver-tipped 
fur,  the  pointed  snout,  the  barred  tail  all  spoke  in  favor 
of  a  true  descent  and  a  perfect  relationship  with  the 
animal  which  I  had  so  often  hunted  on  moonlight  nights 
in  the  woods  at  home.  It  was  an  undoubted  "  case  of 
coon."  When  I  found  him  he  was  in  a  slender  sapling, 
with  Duke  barking  below.  I  laid  the  axe  to  the  trunk 
and  speedily  felled  it  to  the  ground.  Duke  seized  his 
victim  before  he  could  recover,  and  shook  him  as  a 
terrier  would  a  rat.  Running  to  his  assistance  I  speed- 
ily put  an  end  to  the  combat  with  my  knife,  and  bagged 
the  game.  Here  was  material  for  a  feast,  for  I  well 
knew  by  experience  that  roast  coon  is  a  morsel  fit  for 
an  epicure. 

Farm  Haven  looked  beautifully  fresh  from  the  rains. 
I  found  the  garden  still  more  choked  with  weeds,  and 
the  potatoes  mostly  gone  to  seed.  I  gathered  a  few  to 
roast  in  the  embers  for  my  dinner,  but  most  of  them 
had  begun  to  decay.  The  Indian  corn  was  ripe,  and 
I  took  this  occasion  to  gather  it  all,  a  good  heap  of 
perhaps  ten  bushels,  which  I  carried  little  by  little  to 
a  sheltered  nook  under  the  rocks  and  piled  up  without 
removing  the  husks.  I  started  a  good  fire  to  roast  some 
corn  and  potatoes.  After  dressing  the  coon  I  swung 
it  by  a  cord  in  front  of  the  fire  where  it  was  slowly 
turned  by  the  twist  of  the  cord  first  in  one  direction  and 
then  in  the  other,  requiring  only  an  occasional  twirl  to 
keep  it  going. 

While  the  dinner  was  cooking,  Duke  and  I  looked 
about  the  valley  to  see  what  could  be  found.  We  went 
over  to  the  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  rivulet  among 
some  willows,  to  gather  a  few  wands  for  basket-making. 
As  soon  as  we  reached  the  other  side  of  the  stream  I 
noticed  a  strong  stench  as  of  decayed  animal  matter. 


92  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

The  source  of  this  smell  was  soon  disclosed  in  a  great 
heap  of  oysters.  Great  bivalves,  some  of  them  eight 
or  more  inches  across,  lay  rotting  in  a  pile  on  the  peb- 
bly shore.  All  about  were  heaps  of  open  shells  and 
decayed  shell-fish.  It  occurred  to  me  at  once  that  I 
had  chanced  upon  the  headquarters  of  a  pearl  fishery ; 
and  this  accounted  most  satisfactorily  for  the  encamp- 
ment, but  not  for  the  hurried  departure  of  the  campers. 
There  was  at  least  a  ton  of  unopened  oysters  lying  in 
the  rotting  drying-heap,  and  I  determined  to  examine 
them  as  soon  as  we  had  finished  dinner. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

BREAD-MAKING. 

r  I  ""HERE  was  a  wooden  tub  lying  near  the  oyster 
-•-  heap,  which  I  conjectured  was  for  holding  water 
in  which  to  open  and  separate  the  oysters  in  the  ex- 
amination for  pearls.  I  filled  this  tub  at  the  stream  and 
set  it  in  the  shade  of  the  willows.  Then,  with  bared 
arms,  and  nostrils  plugged  with  leaves,  I  began  the  dis- 
gusting task  of  examining  the  oysters  carefully  one  by 
one.  The  second  oyster  I  opened  contained  fifteen 
little  seed  pearls  not  much  larger  than  a  grain  of  mus- 
tard seed.  Then  I  drew  blank  after  blank  in  the  lot- 
tery, until  I  had  opened  perhaps  fifty  shells.  Then  a 
great  prize  came  out  in  the  shape  of  a  beautiful  pear- 
shaped  pearl  of  the  size  of  a  small  hazel-nut,  rainbow 
tinted  and  lustrous  as  a  moon-lit  cloud.  Thus  it  went 
with  varying  fortune  all  the  afternoon,  until  the  heap 
was  exhausted  and  I  had  collected  two  hundred  and 
fifty  seed  pearls,  ninety-seven  small  pearls,  and  a  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  larger  ones,  some  of  them  of  great 
lustre  and  beauty.  What  the  value  of  these  pearls 
would  prove  to  be  I  had  no  means  of  estimating,  but  it 
doubtless  would  be  considerable.  I  tied  them  carefully 
in  my  handkerchief  and  put  them  in  my  pocket.  The 
smell  of  the  decayed  shell-fish  is  something  frightful  to 
remember,  and  after  I  had  finished  and  washed  myself 
thoroughly  in  the  stream  it  still  seemed  to  cling  to  me 
and  to  permeate  everything  in  the  neighborhood.  Why 
I  had  not  noticed  this  awful  stench  on  my  first  visit  was 


94  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

strange  to  me,  and  must  have  been  due  to  the  course 
of  the  wind  at  that  time. 

When  I  had  finished  this  loathsome  task  it  was  so 
late  that  I  concluded  to  stay  all  night  at  the  cove  in- 
stead of  trying  to  go  home.  If  the  weather  kept  clear 
there  would  be  no  great  hardship  in  sleeping  on  the 
grass  for  one  night.  The  sun  set,  however,  with  an  an- 
gry red  glow  amid  a  mass  of  heavy  clouds  portending 
foul  weather.  Moreover,  as  the  night  fell  there  was  an 
oppressive  calm,  and  the  heat  was  intense.  So  threat- 
ening was  the  aspect  of  the  weather  that  had  I  been  at 
all  sure  of  being  able  to  find  my  way  in  the  darkness,  I 
should  have  certainly  attempted  to  get  home  even  after 
the  sun  had  set.  There  was  no  shelter  if  it  should  rain, 
and  I  was  at  my  wits'  end  how  to  contrive  a  place  to 
pass  the  night.  What  a  fool  I  had  been  not  to  notice 
the  approaching  storm  in  time  to  get  to  my  comfortable 
house.  The  best  provision  I  was  able  to  make  was  to 
gather  some  grass  and  willow-boughs  and  take  them 
under  an  overhanging  rock,  where  I  cut  with  the  axe  in 
the  dark  some  limbs  and  boughs  and  made  a  sort  of 
lean-to.  This  I  supplemented  with  the  tub  turned  up 
toward  the  quarter  whence  the  rain  would  most  prob- 
ably come,  and  Duke  and  I  crept  into  this  sorry  nest  to 
await  events. 

One  event  came  without  waiting,  and  that  was  a 
powerful  stench  from  the  unlucky  tub.  But  as  I  had 
endured  this  already  for  nearly  half  a  day,  I  con- 
cluded it  would,  by  familiarity,  become  less  and  less 
offensive.  I  could  not  go  to  sleep,  but  lay  there  turning 
and  tossing  on  my  uncomfortable  couch  and  watching 
the  weather. 

The  calm  continued  until  near  midnight,  when  a  cool 
breeze  sprang  up  and  swept  down  the  gorge  and  out  to 
sea.  I  thought  this  indicated  that  the  storm  was  about 


BREAD-MAKING.  95 

to  pass  around  and  away  ;  but  the  heavy  rumble  of 
thunder  out  at  sea,  growing  louder  and  sharper,  and 
becoming  almost  continuous,  and  the  constant  play  of 
lightning,  quickly  dissipated  this  notion.  I  looked  out 
with  awe  at  this  tremendous  electric  display. 

The  breeze  fell  presently,  and  I  looked  out  and  saw 
coming  in  from  the  sea  a  coppery  red  mass  of  cloud 
glowing  as  though  it  contained  a  furnace.  Instinctively 
I  crouched  down  behind  the  rock  beside  the  dog,  who 
was  shivering  with  fear,  and  grasped  the  corners  of  a 
huge  fallen  fragment.  With  a  dreadful,  screeching  roar, 
mingled  with  a  din  of  thunder  such  as  I  am  utterly  un- 
able to  describe,  and  can  liken  to  nothing  I  ever  heard 
before  or  since,  the  hurricane  burst  upon  the  island. 
There  was  no  rain,  but  at  first  I  thought  there  was,  for 
the  spray  from  the  ocean  beat  in  my  face  and  drenched 
me  to  the  skin.  It  was  not  rain,  for  it  was  salt  to  the 
taste.  My  shelter  of  boughs,  and  also  the  high-smelling 
tub  were  blown  away  instantly,  and  with  the  dog  under  me 
I  fairly  had  all  I  could  do  to  hold  on.  Above  the  roar  of 
the  wind,  the  rattling  of  stones,  and  the  din  of  the  thun- 
der, I  could  hear  the  crash  of  falling  trees  and  breaking 
boughs.  Nor  did  the  awful  wind  let  up  for  nearly  half 
an  hour,  and  I  was  quite  worn  out  with  the  apprehension 
and  the  struggle.  If  I  lifted  my  face  for  an  instant  the 
spray  and  sand  and  pebbles  whipped  with  such  violence 
against  it  that  I  was  glad  to  bury  it  close  to  the  ground. 
Such  awful  storms  I  had  heard  of,  and  even  been  wit- 
ness to  their  effects  after  the  event ;  but  never  could  I 
have  had  an  adequate  idea  of  the  terrible  reality  without 
this  experience. 

During  the  entire  passage  of  the  hurricane  not  a  drop 
of  rain  fell,  so  far  as  I  could  judge,  though,  as  before 
stated,  I  was  drenched  with  spray.  Gradually,  with  an 
occasional  renewal  of  the  blast,  the  wind  went  down,  and 


96  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

in  an  hour  the  stars  were  shining  pure  and  serene  in 
the  dark  vault  above. 

The  temperature  had  now  fallen  many  degrees,  and 
there  was  a  cool,  steady  wind  from  the  north  that  chilled 
me  through  to  the  bone.  Of  course  I  had  no  fire,  and 
no  means  of  procuring  one,  and  the  only  relief  obtain- 
able was  such  exercise  as  I  could  get  by  stamping  about 
and  thrashing  my  arms  until  the  blood  was  in  rapid 
circulation.  Sitting  back  against  the  rock  I  dozed  a 
little  now  and  then,  and  waited  impatiently  for  the  break 
of  day,  which  seemed  as  though  it  never  would  come. 

As  soon  as  it  was  fairly  light  we  started  for  home. 
The  effects  of  the  hurricane  were  visible  on  every  hand. 
Trees  broken  off,  blown  over,  and  uprooted,  green 
branches  scattered  here  and  there,  the  silvery  under 
sides  of  the  leaves  showing,  and  giving  an  air  of  disorder 
and  destruction  by  their  unaccustomed  appearance  and 
tint,  all  marked  the  hand  of  the  destroyer.  The  central 
plateau  seemed  to  have  suffered  most.  Here  several 
great  trees  had  been  twisted  until  the  trunks  were  a  mass 
of  splinters,  indicating  that  they  had  successively  occu- 
pied the  very  eye  and  centre  of  the  rotary  wind.  Hur- 
rying along  rapidly  we  came  down  to  the  lower  land, 
and  I  was  glad  to  observe  much  fewer  signs  of  destruc- 
tion here.  We  came  upon  a  dead  pig,  killed  by  a  huge 
fallen  limb,  and  I  pulled  him  out,  as  we  were  now 
nearly  home,  and  dragged  him  along  with  me  for 
food. 

When  we  reached  the  open  beach  I  found  plenty  of 
evidence  of  the  mighty  wind  in  the  scattered  palm 
leaves,  boughs,  and  branches  strewn  along  the  strand. 
In  the  distance  I  could  see  the  ruins  of  my  work-shed. 
The  roof  was  off,  and  lying  down  the  beach  a  hundred 
yards  or  more  in  a  heap  at  the  water's  edge.  The  boat, 
for  which  I  felt  specially  anxious,  was  hidden  from  view 


BREAD-MAKING.    ~  97 

by  a  clump  of  water  bushes  that  grew  on  the  hither 
bank  of  the  creek.  The  mast  I  could  see,  and  noted 
that  an  unnatural  tilt  had  been  given  to  it.  Dragging 
the  dead  pig  I  slowly  made  my  way  along  the  sand. 
The  house  stood  intact,  my  hammock  still  swung  to 
the  frame-work  of  the  shed.  The  top  of  a  cocoanut 
palm,  twisted  off  by  the  wind  and  carried  through  the 
air,  had  brought  up  against  the  frame  of  the  shed  and 
lodged  there,  while  the  nuts  growing  on  it  were  scattered 
about  the  ground,  some  of  them  as  far  as  the  water's 
edge. 

I  went  immediately  to  the  boat  and  found  it  ca- 
reened and  sunk  in  the  shallow  water  of  the  creek,  the 
upper  gunwale  just  above  the  surface.  At  the  house 
the  only  damage  done  was  a  hole  in  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  wall,  caused  by  the  end  of  a  bough  which 
had  been  driven  through  it  and  was  still  sticking  in  the 
gap.  The  first  thing  I  did  was  to  build  a  rousing  fire 
in  the  chimney ;  then  hanging  my  damp  clothing  up  in 
front  of  it  to  dry  I  went  down  for  a  bath  in  the  creek, 
and  to  examine  more  minutely  the  boat.  When  she 
was  righted  up  and  baled  out  with  a  gourd  I  found  she 
had  suffered  no  injury  whatever,  being  as  tight  as  a 
bottle.  Nor  would  she  have  sunk  except  for  an  extra 
amount  of  ballast  that  happened  to  be  on  board,  as 
the  air-tight  compartments  held  perfectly.  But  the 
sinking  was  doubtless  the  best  thing  that  could  have 
happened. 

As  soon  as  I  could  dress  and  get  something  for  break- 
fast, I  cut  up  the  pig  and  put  part  of  it  in  salt,  and  then 
turned  to  with  a  will  upon  the  work  of  repairing  the 
shed.  The  larger  part  of  the  material  of  the  roof  was 
uninjured,  and  as  the  weather  fortunately  remained 
clear,  by  the  following  night  I  had  the  roof  on  again  in 
good  shape  and  much  stronger  than  before,  as  with  the 

7 


98  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

aid  of  the  axe  I  was  able  to  cut  a  great  number  of  stout 
poles  to  add  to  the  structure.  When  I  had  patched  up 
the  hole  in  the  wall  of  my  house  and  cleared  away  the 
litter,  most  of  the  signs  of  the  hurricane  had  disappeared 
from  my  neighborhood. 

The  dampness  of  my  house  in  wet  weather,  which 
was  due  to  the  walls  getting  wet  and  soaking  through 
with  the  driving  rain,  led  me  now  to  undertake  a  new 
task.  The  clay  used  in  the  building  of  the  boat  would, 
I  thought,  be  sufficient  in  quantity  to  give  the  floor  and 
the  walls  inside  and  out  a  good  coat,  and  this  when  once 
dry  would  make  the  structure  like  an  adobe  building. 
I  intended,  moreover,  to  add  an  extra  thickness  of 
thatch,  put  in  a  row  of  glass  photograph  plates  toward 
the  sea  for  windows,  make  a  good  cedar  door,  to  be 
hung  on  wooden  hinges,  and  add  a  wide  veranda  to 
the  front,  under  which  I  might  sit  in  the  evening. 

The  rain  still  came  every  day  or  two  now,  though 
evidently  the  dry  season  was  fast  approaching.  The 
weather  was  too  uncertain  to  venture  out  any  distance 
in  the  boat,  and  I  therefore  had  plenty  of  time  on  my 
hands  to  attend  to  my  building  and  other  schemes  for 
domestic  comfort.  As  planned,  I  daubed  the  whole 
house,  inside  and  outside,  with  a  good  thick  coat  of  the 
clay  smoothed  with  the  back  of  the  shovel.  On  the 
outside,  to  give  a  workmanlike  finish,  I  lined  the  soft 
clay  into  blocks  and  pointed  the  joints  neatly.  Then, 
with  dry,  pulverized  clay  and  sand,  which  I  sprinkled 
with  water,  trampled  with  the  feet  and  smoothed  by 
beating  with  the  shovel,  I  produced  a  hard,  smooth 
floor  like  that  under  the  shed.  All  around  the  edge  of 
this  floor  I  fitted  a  single  row  of  clam  shells,  and  inside 
of  this  a  second  row  of  pink-mouthed  tiger  shells,  which 
formed  a  handsome  border.  I  put  in  a  narrow  hori- 
zontal window,  of  six  panes  side  by  side,  at  each  side  of 


BREAD-MAKING.  99 

the  doorway,  and  constructed  a  good  door  of  split  cedar, 
pinned  together  and  hung  on  wooden  hinges  to  swing 
outward,  and  provided  it  with  a  latch.  I  then  doubled 
the  thatch  all  over  the  house  and  put  up  a  light  porch 
in  front  thatched  with  palm  leaves,  and  built  a  floor  for 
it  the  same  as  in  the  house.  At  one  end  of  this  porch 
I  constructed  a  little  low  shed  with  walls  and  roof  for 
the  dog. 

As  there  was  still  a  great  quantity  of  clay  left  I  built 
an  oven  near  the  house,  as  follows :  upon  a  raised 
platform  of  poles  erected  about  three  feet  above  the 
ground,  and  about  three  by  four  feet  in  extent,  I  put  a 
layer  of  sand  and  clay  about  four  inches  thick.  This 
was  the  floor  of  the  oven.  All  around  this  floor  I  laid 
a  wall  of  adobe  bricks,  made  of  sand  and  clay  partly 
dried.  I  then  filled  the  interior  with  sand  heaped  up 
in  the  form  of  an  arch,  and  laid  the  adobe  bricks  over 
it,  daubing  and  plastering  all  the  cracks.  At  the  rear 
was  a  small  clay  chimney,  and  at  the  front  an  opening 
for  a  doorway.  When  the  clay  had  well  set  and  partly 
hardened,  I  raked  out  the  sand  through  the  doorway 
and  left  the  hollow  clay  structure  standing.  I  then 
constructed  an  adobe  slab  with  which  to  close  the  door- 
way. In  this  oven  I  built  a  hot  fire  of  dry  wood  and 
kept  it  going  all  day,  by  which  means  the  clay  was  partly 
burned  and  the  construction  made  entirely  proof  against 
the  wet,  —  though,  for  that  matter,  the  adobe  would  have 
stood  without  such  treatment. 

To  utilize  the  heat  left  in  the  walls  from  the  burning 
I  had  put  a  pot  full  of  beans  on  to  boil,  with  a  good 
chunk  of  salt  pork.  At  night  I  put  the  beans  and  pork 
in  an  earthen  dish  and  set  them  in  the  oven,  which 
was  still  hot,  and  closed  it  up  tight,  covering  the  chim- 
ney and  luting  the  door  slab  with  wet  clay.  In  the 
morning,  when  I  opened  it,  there  gushed  out  a  delicious 


IOO  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

vapor,  and  the  dish  of  beans  and  pork,  brown  and  crisp 
came  forth  hot  and  fit  for  a  king. 

One  article  I  needed  very  badly  was  soap.  I  had 
tried  to  wash  my  clothing  several  times,  but  it  was  quite 
filthy  notwithstanding  these  attempts.  My  entire  ward- 
robe consisted  of  a  heavy  woollen  shirt,  a  pair  of  tough 
moleskin  pantaloons,  a  home-made  hat,  and  a  stout  pair 
of  shoes.  Socks  I  had  none,  as  the  single  pair  I 
brought  on  shore  were  entirely  worn  out.  Latterly  I 
had  made  a  practice  of  going  barefoot,  except  on  ex- 
tended excursions  through  the  jungle  and  over  the 
rocks.  With  plenty  of  wood  ashes  and  pig  fat  at  hand 
why  should  I  not  make  soap  ?  I  rigged  up  a  leaching 
apparatus  thus :  in  the  bottom  of  a  huge  gourd  I 
pierced  several  holes,  and  laid  over  them  a  layer  of 
grass  so  that  the  ashes  would  not  stop  them  up ;  then 
I  filled  the  gourd  with  alternate  layers  of  grass  and  ashes 
to  the  top,  and  poured  in  fresh  water  as  long  as  it  would 
absorb  any.  In  a  little  while  the  lye  began  to  drip  out 
of  the  holes  into  a  vessel  placed  beneath  to  receive  it. 
By  changing  and  renewing  the  ashes  several  times  I 
finally  collected  a  kettle  full  of  the  lye.  This  I  placed 
over  the  fire  and  boiled  until  it  had  lost  two  thirds  of 
its  volume.  Then  I  put  into  the  boiling  lye  strips  and 
pieces  of  fat  pork  until  it  would  dissolve  no  more,  keep- 
ing up  the  boiling  slowly  all  the  time.  The  result  was 
a  good  article  of  light  colored  soap  of  a  jelly-like  con- 
sistency. Its  use  both  upon  my  clothing  and  myself 
was  a  luxury  indeed. 

One  day  I  burned  some  lime  and  mixed  a  white- 
wash, which  with  a  cocoa-husk  swab  I  applied  to  the 
interior  walls  of  the  house,  changing  them  to  a  dazzling 
white  and  rendering  the  whole  interior  light  and  cheer- 
ful ;  which  was  a  great  comfort  on  dark  days  when  I  was 
confined  there.  Moreover,  it  gave  the  place  an  air  of 


BREAD-MAKING.  IOI 

wholesomeness  and  neatness  that  was  very  home-like. 
As  a  further  improvement  I  made  a  bed  of  soil  at  each 
end  of  the  porch  and  transplanted  some  flowering  vines 
and  creepers  of  several  varieties ;  I  also  made  a  half- 
dozen  hills  in  front  of  the  house,  carrying  and  filling  in 
these  spots  a  quantity  of  rich  muck,  and  planted  sweet 
potatoes  that  they  might  spread  their  vines  over  the 
sand.  The  garden  which  I  had  made  before  the  rains 
set  in  was  now  in  thriving  condition,  all  the  peas  and 
beans  being  up  and  the  potato-vines  in  blossom. 

My  diet  was  now  varied  and  healthful  enough ;  but 
I  lacked  one  article  of  food  that  I  longed  for  and  felt 
the  need  of  more  and  more  every  day,  —  and  that  was 
bread,  the  staff  of  life.  Parched-seed  gruel  was  a  very 
poor  substitute  indeed,  and  at  last  I  got  so  hungry  for 
a  taste  of  bread  that  I  determined  to  make  some  out  of 
the  Indian  corn. 

So  one  day  I  made  a  basket  and  started  across  the 
island  to  bring  home  a  supply  of  the  corn.  All  the  way 
over  I  kept  a  good  lookout  for  a  suitable  gritty  stone, 
that  could  be  used  to  grind  the  corn,  and  found  several 
that  I  thought  might  answer  the  purpose  fairly  well ; 
but  one  sample  —  being  a  slab  of  grit-stone  having  a 
rough,  pocked  surface  with  small  hard  bits  of  chal- 
cedony interspersed  throughout  —  was  so  superior  in 
quality  to  all  the  rest  that  I  concluded  I  could  do  no 
better  if  I  sought  the  island  over.  This  slab,  which  was 
quite  as  much  as  I  could  carry,  I  laid  against  a  tree 
where  I  could  easily  find  it,  and  went  on  my  way  to 
"  Farm  Cove."  I  had  not  been  here  since  the  great 
storm,  and  was  surprised  to  see  how  quickly  and  fully  all 
traces  of  the  hurricane  had  disappeared.  The  corn  was 
all  right,  the  husks  had  fully  dried,  and  the  heap  lying 
on  the  rocks  had  not  suffered  from  the  rains.  I  filled 
my  basket,  —  a  good  bushel,  —  and  immediately  came 


IO2  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

home,  returning  forthwith  for  the  slab  of  grit-stone. 
Duke  treed  another  raccoon,  which  we  captured  by  cut- 
ting down  the  tree,  and  then  with  our  plunder  and  the 
stone  we  managed  to  get  home  at  nightfall. 

The  next  day  it  began  again  to  rain  in  intermittent 
showers ;  raining  and  shining  alternately,  as  in  the  April 
weather  of  northern  latitudes.  After  building  a  fire  and 
heating  up  the  oven  and  putting  in  the  raccoon  to  bake, 
with  some  yams  for  dinner,  I  went  to  work  on  my  stone 
slab.  First  I  broke  off  a  good  piece  the  full  width  of  the 
slab  in  length,  and  about  six  inches  in  width  to  use  as  a 
grinder.  With  the  back  of  the  axe  I  hammered  and 
dressed  this  as  smooth  as  I  could.  Then  I  went  at 
the  slab  itself,  pounding  it  with  the  axe  and  breaking 
it  at  the  edges  until  it  was  formed  into  a  reasonably 
smooth,  rectangular  shape  two  feet  long  by  one  foot  in 
width.  I  now  sprinkled  the  face  of  the  slab  with 
wet  sand  and  water,  and  placing  it  in  an  inclined 
position,  rubbed  the  grinder  up  and  down  upon  it, 
feeding  on  fresh  sand  and  water  from  time  to  time,  as 
it  lost  its  cutting  properties. 

This  was  slow,  hard,  tedious  work,  and  the  progress 
made  was  so  gradual  that  it  called  for  all  my  will  to 
keep  at  it.  Perseverance,  however,  will  finally  conquer 
most  obstacles,  and  this  was  a  mere  question  of  muscle 
and  will-power  struggling  against  a  hard  grit-stone.  The 
stone  was  fated  finally  to  yield;  but  it  took  me  two 
days  of  hard  work  to  get  it  into  the  right  shape.  All 
this  for  a  piece  of  corn  bread,  and  the  bread  not  yet 
forthcoming. 

When  finished  the  slab  had  a  smooth,  gritty  surface 
slightly  incurved  from  end  to  end,  and  the  grinder 
designed  to  lie  across  it  had  its  corners  rounded 
smoothly  off. 

I  set  to  work  now  to  grind  my  corn  as  follows  :    The 


BREAD-MAKING.  1 03 

slab  was  propped  up  at  a  slight  angle  on  a  piece  of 
canvas ;  on  this  slab  the  corn,  a  handful  at  a  time,  was 
sprinkled  and  then  ground  by  rubbing  the  grinder  up 
and  down  over  it.  As  it  became  pulverized  the  meal 
would  gradually  drift  down  on  to  the  canvas,  the  coarser 
particles  rolling  away  to  the  edge  of  the  heap,  only  to 
to  be  scraped  up  and  ground  over  again.  This  was,  as 
you  may  imagine,  tedious  work.  When  I  had  accumu- 
lated about  four  quarts  of  meal,  I  felt  that  I  had  enough 
of  grinding  for  once. 

Now  commenced  the  first  act  of  bread-making  pro- 
per. In  a  gourd  I  mixed  about  a  pint  of  the  meal  with 
warm  water  and  a  little  salt,  and  set  it  in  a  warm  place 
over  night,  that  it  might  have  a  chance  to  ferment. 
This  was  to  be  my  yeast.  In  the  morning  the  contents 
of  the  gourd  were  in  a  state  of  incipient  fermentation, 
and  I  went  out  and  fired  up  the  oven  to  be  ready  for 
the  grand  final  act.  While  the  oven  was  heating  I 
mixed  up  the  rest  of  the  meal  with  salt  and  water,  and 
added  the  fermented  meal  to  it,  mixing  the  whole  to  a 
consistency  such  that  it  could  readily  be  stirred.  This 
I  set  near  the  fire  in  an  earthen  pan,  and  watched  it 
from  time  to  time.  In  about  two  hours  it  began  to  rise 
slightly,  and  the  oven  being  fully  ready  I  clapped  the 
pan  in  and  closed  it  up  to  bake.  In  an  hour  I  opened 
the  oven  and  took  out  a  fragrant  panful  of  nicely 
browned,  light,  and  crumbling  corn  bread,  as  a  reward  for 
all  my  labors.  Perhaps  it  was  not  so  good  as  a  skilled 
bread-maker  might  have  produced,  but  it  was  sweet  and 
delightful  to  me,  and  well  repaid  all  my  trouble,  and 
both  Duke  and  I  rejoiced  over  it  with  our  broiled 
bacon. 

After  this  experiment  bread-making  was  a  regular 
thing.  Sometimes  I  simply  stirred  up  the  raw  meal 
with  a  little  salt  and  water  and  baked  it  on  the  back 


104  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

of  a  shovel  before  the  open  fire,  —  hoe-cake  fash- 
ion,—  to  be  eaten  brown  and  hot;  but  I  generally 
made  raised  bread  by  the  process  which  I  have  de- 
scribed, sometimes  adding  a  modicum  of  pork  fat  for 
shortening. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE  GALLEON  FOUND. 

r  I  "'HE  severe  rains  gradually  ceased,  until  sunshine 
J.  was  the  rule  and  rain  the  exception.  I  did  not 
expect  a  season  of  absolute  dryness,  for  in  this  locality 
rain  prevails  to  some  extent  throughout  the  whole  year, 
so  that  the  vegetation  rarely  suffers  from  drought. 

One  morning,  the  sky  being  clear  and  a  gentle  breeze 
blowing  from  the  southwest,  Duke  and  I  went  aboard  the 
boat,  —  which  by  the  way,  I  had  named  the  "  Mohawk  " 
—  and  started  for  a  trial  of  the  water-glass.  We  were 
soon  on  the  ground,  a  mile  to  the  north  of  the  cape. 
Lowering  the  sails  I  put  the  glass  over  the  side,  with  very 
little  hope  of  success  as  the  water  seemed  to  have  a 
cloudy  appearance.  It  proved  to  be  in  such  a  condi- 
tion that  I  could  not  see  the  bottom  at  all.  I  then  put 
up  the  sail  and  ran  in  nearer  the  shore  to  where  the 
depth  was  about  thirty  feet.  Here  I  could  see  the 
sand  and  rocks  and  shells  on  the  bottom  very  distinctly, 
and  noted  that  there  were  streaks  and  veins  of  the 
murky  water  running  through  the  more  transparent 
portion. 

Finding  that  nothing  could  be  done  in  the  way  of 
investigation  until  the  water  became  clearer,  I  stood  out 
to  the  west  until  by  a  single  tack  I  could  make  Farm 
Cove,  intending  to  bring  back  a  cargo  of  corn  and  some 
yams  and  potatoes.  I  found  a  few  bushels  of  yams 
still  in  good  condition,  and  noted  with  pleasure  that 
many  of  the  potatoes  left  in  the  ground  had  sprouted 


106  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

and  the  vines  had  already  acquired  quite  a  growth. 
With  spade  and  shovel  I  turned  to  heartily,  and  cleared 
away  the  luxuriant  growth  of  weeds  which  threatened 
to  choke  this  volunteer  crop.  Then  I  loaded  in  my 
corn  and  started  back,  reaching  home  in  time  for 
supper. 

The  next  two  days  I  devoted  to  planting  a  patch  of 
corn,  hardly  expecting  to  remain  long  enough  upon  the 
island  to  enjoy  it,  but  thinking  it  wise  to  provide  for  an 
uncertain  future.  On  the  third  day  I  went  out  again 
to  try  the  water-glass,  but  the  water  was  still  lacking  in 
transparency  and  there  was  nothing  to  do  except  to 
wait. 

But  while  returning  I  thought  of  a  thing  that  would 
be  very  useful  to  me  in  future  expeditions,  and  that  was 
to  set  up  on  the  northern  cape  something  which  might 
serve  as  a  guide  to  me  in  future  operations.  I  had  no 
compass  and  was  obliged  to  guess  the  direction  blindly 
by  the  sun.  Now  the  Spanish  admiral,  when  he  reported 
that  the  galleon  bore  east  of  north  from  the  point  of 
rocks,  and  about  a  mile  therefrom,  probably  spoke,  as  to 
direction  at  least,  from  actual  observation  of  the  com- 
pass, as  a  sailor  would ;  for  nobody  knows  better  than  a 
sailor  the  impossibility  of  guessing  at  direction  without 
a  guide.  Indeed,  the  sailor,  when  he  comes  on  deck, 
turns  instinctively  to  the  compass  to  orient  himself  and 
correct  his  sense  of  direction,  because  the  course  of  the 
vessel  may  have  changed  half  a  dozen  times  during  a 
watch  below,  without  his  knowledge.  To  one  on  board 
a  vessel  the  parts  fore  and  aft,  starboard  and  port, 
below  and  aloft,  have  a  fixed  relation  to  each  other, 
and  one  is  apt  to  get  a  set  impression  as  to  direc- 
tion from  this  fixed  relation  of  familiar  objects.  Thus 
I  have  heard  of  an  old  sailing-master  who  was  on  board 
the  same  vessel  for  twenty  years,  and  who  declared  that, 


THE   GALLEON  FOUND.  IO/ 

no  matter  where  the  ship  might  be  or  upon  what  course, 
it  always  seemed  to  him  that  the  head  of  his  bunk  lay 
to  the  north;  that  when  at  sea  the  most  distressing 
thing  to  him  was  that  the  sun  never  rose  in  the  same 
quarter  two  mornings  in  succession  ;  and  that  it  never 
rose  in  the  east  except  on  Long  Island,  where  he  was 
born. 

As  to  the  accuracy  of  the  estimated  distance  —  one 
mile  —  that,  to  be  sure,  was  a  much  more  uncertain 
quantity ;  though  officers  of  war  vessels  are,  and  were 
then,  well  trained  to  estimate  distances  on  the  water,  as 
otherwise  they  could  not  determine  the  range  of  their 
cannon  and  arms.  Altogether  I  had  every  reason  to 
suppose,  barring  variations  in  the  compass  and  individual 
errors,  that  the  location  assigned  was  reasonably  accu- 
rate. At  any  rate  I  decided  to  start  my  investigation 
with  the  assumption  that  the  assigned  location  was 
accurate,  and  to  work  from  the  designated  point  as  a 
centre  ;  it  would  then  be  easy,  as  I  proceeded,  to  allow 
for  error  in  all  directions  without  the  chance  of  multiply- 
ing it  in  any  particular  direction. 

In  my  little  box  of  drawing-tools  was  a  small  brass 
protractor  —  a  semi-circle  divided  into  one  hundred 
and  eighty  degrees,  with  half-degree  marks.  This  would 
be  convenient  in  the  work  I  was  about  to  do,  though 
not  absolutely  necessary,  as  in  its  absence  I  could  have 
easily  constructed  one  that  would  answer  my  purpose. 
The  first  thing  to  do  was  to  establish  a  true  north  and 
south  line.  That  night  the  stars  shone  brightly,  and  I 
easily  found  the  pole  star  by  the  pointers  in  the  Great 
Bear,  or  "  Dipper."  In  the  sand  at  the  north  cape  I 
drove  an  upright  stake  made  of  a  stout  cane.  Then 
taking  another  straight  piece  I  placed  it  in  a  notch  on 
top  of  the  upright  and  sighted  along  its  length  adjusting 
it  until  it  pointed  straight  at  the  north  star.  To  secure 


108  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

it  in  this  position  I  drove  a  short  notched  stake  at  the 
butt  of  the  inclined  cane  and  tied  the  cane  firmly  to 
both.  I  was  now  sure  that  the  two  uprights  were  in  a 
true  north  and  south  direction  from  each  other,  and  the 
work  for  that  night  was  finished,  as  the  remainder  could 
be  better  done  by  daylight. 

The  next  thing  I  wanted  was  a  standard  of  measure- 
ment ;  unfortunately  my  drawing  instruments  did  not  con- 
tain the  usual  ivory  rule.  But  this  did  not  occasion  me 
much  uneasiness,  as  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  deduce  the 
standard  inch  by  a  comparison  of  my  belongings.  If  I 
once  got  the  true  inch  it  would  be  easy  to  get  from 
that  the  foot,  the  yard,  the  rod,  the  mile.  I  had  my 
photograph  plates  as  one  guide ;  these  I  had  every 
reason  to  suppose  were  cut  quite  accurately  to  the 
dimensions  of  five  inches  by  seven.  Then  there  was  the 
brass  protractor.  It  is  true  there  were  no  inches  marked 
on  this ;  but  the  workman  who  made  it  would  naturally 
follow  some  standard,  and  the  chances  were  very  great 
that  the  diameter  of  this  instrument  would  be  found  to 
be  an  exact  multiple  of  the  inch,  and  as  I  conjectured, 
exactly  four  inches.  To  test  this  matter  I  laid  the  pro- 
tractor on  the  short  side  of  one  of  the  plates,  and  taking 
the  difference  between  the  two  found,  as  I  had  expected, 
that  this  difference  was  one  fifth  of  the  width  of  the 
plate,  and  one  seventh  of  its  length.  This  proved  sat- 
isfactorily to  my  mind  that  the  plate  was  accurate  in 
dimensions,  that  is  to  say,  five  by  seven  inches,  and 
that  the  difference  between  the  length  of  the  straight 
side  of  the  protractor  and  the  width  of  the  plate  was 
the  standard  inch.  From  this  starting-point  I  con- 
structed a  foot  measure,  and  cut  me  a  light  pole  exactly 
a  rod  in  length. 

Returning  now  to  the  cape  where  my  north  and  south 
direction  rod  was  fixed,  I  proceeded  to  set  a  peg,  which 


THE  GALLEON  FOUND.  109 

to  avoid  confusion  we  will  designate  as  A,  in  the  sand 
in  a  prolongation  of  the  line,  and  with  the  protractor 
got  the  true  east  by  north,  marking  this  line  by  a  second 
peg.  Then  I  turned  about  and  marked  a  line  which 
made  an  angle  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  degrees  with 
the  east  by  north  line,  and  which  would  lead  down  the 
beach. 

I  now  proceeded  to  plant  in  the  sand  three  poles 
about  fifteen  feet  in  height :  one  at  the  central  point 
A,  one  in  a  prolongation  of  the  east  by  north  line,  which 
pole  we  will  call  B,  and  the  third  in  a  prolongation  of 
the  angle  line  down  the  beach,  which  latter  pole  we 
will  call  C.  The  next  thing  was  the  measurement  of  a 
base  line  from  the  pole  A,  through  C  down  the  beach 
for  a  mile.  This  I  did  as  accurately  as  I  could  with  my 
rod  measure ;  but  it  was  a  sort  of  work  highly  conducive, 
as  you  may  imagine,  to  the  backache,  especially  as  I 
went  over  it  three  times  to  eliminate  as  much  error  as 
possible,  taking  the  average  of  the  three  measurements. 
Nor  was  the  third  measurement  completed  much  before 
it  was  time  to  go  home. 

Only  one  thing  now  remained  to  be  done,  and  this  I 
did  the  next  morning.  At  the  end  of  the  mile  line  on 
the  beach  I  erected  a  tall  pole,  which  we  will  call  D, 
and  from  it  as  a  centre  laid  off  a  line  thirty  degrees 
from  the  base  to  intersect  the  east-by-north  line  or  its 
prolongation,  and  marked  the  direction  by  a  second 
tall  pole  which  we  will  call  E.  Now,  according  to  a 
simple  problem  in  trigonometry,  it  will  be  seen  that  if 
I  should  sail  out  in  my  boat  east  of  north  from  the 
cape,  guiding  myself  by  the  two  poles  A  and  B,  when 
I  had  brought  the  poles  D  and  E  into  line  having  A 
and  B  in  line  at  the  same  time,  I  should  be  a  mile  away 
from  A  in  a  true  east-of-north  direction. 

Although  I  now  went  out  every  day  to  try  the  water, 


1 10  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

it  did  not  grow  clear.  Finding  the  guide-poles  barely 
visible,  especially  the  more  distant  pair,  I  mounted  a 
gourd  on  the  top  of  each  one,  after  which  I  had  no  fur- 
ther difficulty  in  seeing  them.  As  it  was  some  little 
trouble  to  take  the  bearings  constantly,  I  rigged  a  buoy 
and  anchored  it  at  the  spot  where  theoretically  the  gal- 
leon lay.  I  found  the  water  about  sixty  feet  deep  ;  and 
the  buoy  —  a  large  gourd  attached  to  a  line  with  a  stone 
for  an  anchor — floated  easily  on  the  swell,  with  eighty 
feet  of  line.  After  this  buoy  was  anchored  I  took 
down  the  guide-poles,  marking  their  places  with  pegs,  in 
case  I  should  require  to  use  them  again.  This  I  did 
out  of  a  superabundance  of  caution,  not  that  I  be- 
lieved any  one  else  than  myself — had  there  been  any 
one  else  —  could  have  read  the  riddle  they  told  to 
me. 

Every  day  for  three  weeks  I  went  out  to  the  shoal 
near  the  buoy  and  examined  the  water.  It  was  getting 
gradually  clearer ;  but  had  it  not  been  for  my  recollec- 
tion of  the  first  visit  made,  before  I  had  the  water-glass, 
and  of  the  appearance  of  the  water  at  that  time,  I 
should  have  doubtless  given  up  the  attempt  in  despair. 
The  remembrance,  however,  of  the  clear  water,  and  the 
gleam  through  it  of  yellow  sand,  was  not  to  be  forgotten, 
and  it  kept  up  my  hopes  to  the  last. 

The  weather  grew  oppressively  hot,  and  there  came 
on  one  day  a  terrific  thunder-storm  followed  by  a  gale 
of  wind  from  the  northeast  which  lasted  two  days  and 
was  followed  in  turn  by  fair  weather,  with  a  gentle  south- 
west wind.  When  I  went  out  again  I  found  the  water 
quite  clear.  I  was  very  impatient  to  test  the  glass,  so 
much  so  that  I  would  not  wait  to  make  any  trials  until 
I  had  reached  the  neighborhood  of  the  buoy.  Here  I 
lowered  the  sails  and  put  the  glass  over. 

I   could  see  the  bottom   quite   plainly.     It  was   of 


THE   GALLEON  FOUND.  Ill 

clean  sand  and  strewed  with  shells.  Here  and  there 
was  a  fragment  of  sea-weed,  sponge,  or  other  ocean 
growth.  A  shoal  of  silver-sided  mackerel  dashed  by, 
and  numerous  strange  fishes  came  into  view.  One 
sort  there  was  with  long  streamers  extending  from  the 
tail,  and  a  body  banded  with  rainbow  hues.  I  looked 
long  and  intently  at  the  strange  panorama  unfolded  to 
my  view,  and  found  when  I  raised  my  head  that  the 
boat  had  drifted  half  a  mile  to  the  northeast  of  the 
buoy.  Then  I  hoisted  the  sail  and  ratched  back  be- 
yond the  buoy,  and  drifted  again,  with  the  glass  over 
the  side,  watching  the  bottom  for  signs  of  the  galleon. 
This  manoeuvre  I  repeated  as  long  as  there  was  light 
enough  to  see.  I  found  that  I  could  not  see  the  bot- 
tom after  four  in  the  afternoon,  nor  before  nine  in  the 
morning. 

I  spent  three  days  at  this  work  without  any  success, 
and  then  found  that  I  was  going  at  times  over  ground 
that  I  had  already  searched,  for  I  began  to  identify  ob- 
jects as  having  been  already  seen.  Especially  did  I 
recognize  a  huge  conch-shell  with  a  clam-shell  wedged 
in  the  mouth.  It  was  necessary  therefore  to  devise 
some  systematic  method  of  search,  or  I  should  simply 
be  hunting  over  and  over  the  same  ground.  So  I 
adopted  the  plan  of  gridironing,  so  to  speak,  a  ter- 
ritory of  a  mile  square,  after  the  following  fashion  :  I 
made  me  an  extra  buoy  and  anchored  it  at  an  arbitrary 
point  about  a  half-mile  south  of  the  centre  buoy.  Tak- 
ing this  as  a  starting-point  I  drifted  a  mile  before  the 
wind  to  the  northeast ;  then  ratching  back  to  the  start- 
ing-point I  lifted  the  buoy  and  carried  it  a  hundred  feet 
to  the  northwest,  and  drifted  again  down  another  par- 
allel line,  and  so  on. 

The  wind  held  steadily  in  the  southwest,  fortunately, 
day  after  day,  and  after  a  week's  hard  work  I  came 


112  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

nearly  on  a  line  with  the  central  buoy ;  but  no  signs  of  a 
wreck,  or  even  a  mound  where  one  might  be  buried  in 
the  sand.  On  the  eighth  day  of  this  systematic  search 
the  weather  seemed  about  to  change.  A  huge  bank  of 
clouds  lay  low  in  the  southwest,  and  I  hardly  knew 
whether  to  venture  out  or  not.  But  as  it  would  in  all 
probability  take  some  hours  for  the  storm  to  brew,  I  set 
forth  and  made  one  drift  with  my  usual  success,  then 
returned  and  started  for  the  second. 

When  I  was  about  half-way  down  on  the  second 
drift  I  found  the  wreck.  There  was  no  doubt  about  it. 
The  hulk  lay  there  very  slightly  buried  in  the  sand,  a 
great,  black  mass  careened  a  little  to  port,  and  the 
bows  somewhat  higher  than  the  stern.  Strange  to  say, 
it  was  not  further  than  twenty  rods  from  my  central 
marking  buoy,  and  about  due  north  from  it.  I  imme- 
diately dropped  overboard  my  reserve  buoy,  composed  of 
four  large  gourds  attached  to  a  strong  line,  and  having 
a  hundred-pound  rock  for  an  anchor,  and  watched  to  see 
that  the  anchoring-stone  dropped  just  beside  the  hull. 

At  last  I  had  found  it !  Here  beneath  me  in  sixty 
feet  of  water  lay  the  Spanish  galleon,  exactly  where 
the  admiral  so  long  ago  had  reported  her  to  have  sunk. 
His  report  being  so  far  verified,  it  would  also  prove 
true  in  respect  to  the  treasure  contained  within  her 
ancient  ribs. 

A  darkening  of  the  sea  and  sky  warned  me  that  there 
was  no  time  to  waste  in  dreaming  over  my  discovery. 
The  storm  which  had  been  coming  would  now  soon  be 
here.  I  therefore  hoisted  sail  and  turned  my  back  on  the 
galleon.  It  was  none  too  soon.  Indeed,  before  I  made 
the  creek  the  wind  had  risen  to  such  a  height  that  I 
had  to  lower  the  sails  and  double  reef  them,  and  then 
went  into  the  creek  gunwale  under,  with  the  white 
spume  and  froth  flying  clear  over  the  boat.  But  a  miss 


THE   GALLEON  FOUND.  113 

is  as  good  as  a  mile.  I  got  safely  in  and  cooked  me  a 
noble  dinner  of  corn  bread  and  baked  pork  and  beans 
in  honor  of  the  day's  glorious  event. 

Duke  and  I  sat  in  the  open  porch  that  afternoon, 
sheltered  from  the  wind  and  rain,  resting  contentedly 
after  the  long  strain  of  hard  work  which  had  kept  me 
on  the  keen  jump  every  day  from  dawn  until  dark  since 
the  search  began.  The  wind  blew  strongly,  with  oc- 
casional gusts  of  driving  rain,  and  I  feared  the  storm 
might  shift  my  buoys,  or  tear  them  loose  and  carry 
them  away ;  but  I  could  locate  the  central  buoy  again 
by  the  sights  already  taken,  if  it  should  go,  and  from 
that  the  spot  could  easily  be  found.  But  I  hoped  for 
better  results,  as  the  main  buoy,  which  marked  the 
wreck,  had  plenty  of  line,  and  moreover,  was  strong  and 
buoyant.  I  wished  this  one  might  last,  for  with  the 
anchor  lying  close  beside  the  sunken  hull,  it  seemed  to 
me  a  sort  of  claim  stake.  I  determined,  as  soon  as  the 
weather  would  permit,  to  rig  a  buoy  which  would  out- 
ride the  storms,  and  anchor  it  securely  over  the  wreck. 
As  is  usual  with  the  heavier  winds  and  gales  in  this 
locality,  the  wind  before  nightfall  began  to  veer  around 
to  another  quarter,  getting  before  sunset  quite  around 
into  the  north,  and  by  nine  o'clock  settling  down  in  the 
northeast,  exactly  the  opposite  quarter  from  its  starting- 
point,  with  fine  rain  and  mist. 

Having  located  the  galleon,  I  had  now  done  all  I 
had  intended  to  do  before  leaving  the  island,  except  to 
mark  the  location  more  securely,  if  that  proved  neces- 
sary ;  and  I  was  therefore  impatient  to  get  away  in  my 
boat  for  Martinique  or  some  other  civilized  port  where 
I  could  get  the  necessary  assistance  and  diving-appara- 
tus. Of  course  I  must  now  wait  for  settled  weather 
and  a  favorable  wind  as  I  had  once  before  had  to  do. 
But  this  time  I  hoped  most  sincerely  that  I  should  not 

8 


114  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

be  kept  waiting  as  long  as  before,  for  with  little  to  do 
the  time  would  hang  heavily  on  my  hands.  The  bare 
thought  of  getting  back  once  more  to  civilization  made 
my  heart  beat  faster,  and  stirred  my  very  soul. 

The  northerly  wind  was  chill,  and  the  air  so  moist 
that  I  built  a  cheerful  fire  in  the  chimney  and  drew  my 
chair  up  in  front  of  it,  closed  the  door,  lighted  a  can- 
dle, and  tried  to  read,  Duke  snoozing  on  the  floor  at 
my  feet  in  front  of  the  hearth. 

But  although  I  sat  thus  until  midnight,  I  could  not 
read.  I  watched  the  embers  fall  and  die  away  hour 
after  hour,  thinking  over  the  days  spent  on  the  island, 
the  trials  and  the  labor,  the  mistakes  and  the  successes, 
and  the  strange  outcome.  That  I  should  have  actually 
found  the  galleon  seemed  now  upon  cool  reflection 
little  less  than  a  miracle.  That  some  of  the  hundreds 
of  professional  wreckers  and  divers  who  make  a  regular 
business  of  seeking  out  such  things  on  the  faintest  clues 
should  not  have  run  across  the  Spanish  admiral's  report 
and  sought  and  found  the  wreck  and  removed  the 
treasure  seemed  a  strange  thing  to  me  now.  Why  had 
not  the  Spanish  government  done  this  long  ago  ?  Then 
the  horrible  idea  entered  my  mind  that  perhaps  they 
had  already  done  so.  Or  if  not,  perhaps  an  expedition 
designed  for  that  purpose  might  even  now  be  on  its 
way,  and  might  arrive  when  I  had  left  the  island.  If 
so,  they  would  speedily  pick  up  my  buoy,  and  I  should 
return  to  find  the  treasure  gone. 

All  these  and  a  thousand  such  distempered  fancies 
tortured  me  into  a  state  bordering  on  frenzy.  To  have 
the  treasure  almost  in  sight  and  yet  to  lose  it  would  be 
too  much  for  human  nature  to  bear.  I  would  remove 
my  buoy,  erase  every  mark  and  take  my  chances  of 
picking  up  the  clue.  But  after  all,  how  foolish  that 
would  be.  The  treasure  lies  there  safe,  and  has  lain 


THE   GALLEON  FOUND.  115 

there  many,  many  years,  and  this  frantic  fear  coming  at 
so  late  a  day  is  the  height  of  folly. 

Then  my  mind  would  wander  away  to  plans  for  con- 
ducting my  negotiations  :  how  I  should  seek  out  a  man 
whom  I  could  trust,  and  how  I  should  present  matters 
to  secure  his  aid  and  co-operation.  How  should  I  get 
the  money  ?  Ah,  there  were  the  pearls  !  I  would  sell 
them  and  possibly  raise  money  enough  myself.  But 
would  I  dare  offer  these  pearls  for  sale  ?  Would  not 
their  possession  excite  the  cupidity  of  others  and  cause 
them  to  follow  me  back  to  the  island  and  come  upon 
me  in  the  midst  of  the  work  of  securing  the  treasure  ? 

And  so  my  fancies  came  and  went,  until  at  last, 
overpowered  by  fatigue,  I  fell  fast  asleep  in  my  chair, 
and  was  wakened  an  hour  or  two  before  break  of  day 
by  Duke's  cold  nose  against  my  hand.  Whereupon  I 
sensibly  went  to  bed  and  to  sleep. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    CASTAWAYS. 

IT  was  now  the  month  of  May  and  I  had  been  about 
nine  months  a  prisoner  on  the  island.  If  all  went 
as  well  as  I  hoped,  I  might  be  at  home  before  the  end 
of  a  year  with  money  enough  to  redeem  the  dear  old 
farm. 

The  morning  was  gray  and  gloomy,  the  wind  still 
driving  gusts  of  rain  from  the  northeast,  and  the  break- 
ers yellow  with  sand  rolling  in  on  the  beach,  and  dash- 
ing up  fragments  of  weed  and  long  streamers  of  bladder 
plant.  There  was  a  strong  salt  smell  in  the  nostrils 
that  such  weather  brings  on  the  seashore ;  the  gray, 
leaden  clouds  hung  low  and  heavy  over  a  dark,  indigo 
sea,  whitened  far  and  near  with  foaming  crests,  like 
manes  of  racing  steeds ;  the  foliage  gleamed  silvery 
gray  as  the  leaves  were  swept  by  the  wind ;  and  the 
willows  along  the  creek  bent  until  they  dipped  their 
slender  branches  in  the  stream.  Occasionally  a  parrot 
or  other  long-tailed  bird  could  be  seen  tossed  and  buf- 
feted in  an  attempt  to  fly  from  one  tree  to  another, 
frequently  giving  up  the  struggle  and  fairly  drifting  away 
to  be  lost  among  the  foliage. 

Notwithstanding  the  wet,  I  went  about  getting  stores 
into  the  boat  and  preparing  for  the  voyage.  I  filled 
half  a  dozen  two-gallon  gourds  with  water,  and  stopped 
them  with  well  waxed  wooden  plugs,  stowing  them 
carefully  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  with  due  regard  to 
her  trim.  Then  I  put  on  board  the  remainder  of  the 


THE  CASTAWAYS. 

dried  turtle-meat,  and  set  a  ham  on  the  fire  to  boil. 
I  made  two  pans  of  bread,  and  put  them,  with  pork, 
beans,  yams,  and  potatoes,  in  the  oven  to  bake.  This 
food  would  all  keep  well.  In  addition  I  parched  and 
ground  up  two  or  three  quarts  of  seed  for  cold  gruel. 
Everything  was  stowed  away,  and  the  boat  in  readiness 
by  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

There  was  but  little  sign  of  an  abatement  or  change 
in  the  weather.  I  felt  curious  to  know  if  my  buoy 
still  held,  and  as  there  was  yet  time  before  dark 
to  go  up  to  the  north  cape  by  way  of  the  beach  and 
return,  I  called  Duke  and  started  along  the  strand. 
About  half-way  there  we  came  upon  the  carcass  of  a 
magnificent  silver-sided  tarpon,  —  a  huge  fish  somewhat 
like  a  sea-bass,  —  that  would  have  weighed  probably 
two  hundred  pounds.  It  was  dead  when  cast  ashore, 
and  so  of  course  unfit  for  food.  A  flock  of  gulls  were 
quarrelling  and  fighting  over  it,  and  as  we  approached 
they  arose  and  filled  the  air  in  a  great  cloud.  After  we 
passed  by  they  circled  around,  wind-buffeted,  and  settled 
again  on  their  food,  covering  the  beach,  and  hovering 
in  a  seething,  hungry,  struggling  crowd  about  the  fish, 
which  must  have  been  a  rare  feast  for  them. 

I  picked  up  a  beautiful  and  perfect  specimen  of  the 
fragile  shell  of  the  pearly  nautilus,  thin  as  paper,  fluted 
and  corrugated  with  lovely  regularity,  and  tinted  like 
the  shaded  petals  of  a  blush  rose.  Rarely  beautiful, 
divinely  perfect,  this  sample  of  nature's  handiwork,  cast 
up  by  the  foaming,  angry  breakers  amid  the  brown  tan- 
gle of  the  shore  and  the  foul-smelling  ocean-weeds, 
seemed  like  a  poem,  a  hymn  in  praise  of  nature's  God. 
I  put  the  delicate  and  perfect  structure  carefully  in  my 
bosom  to  carry  away  as  a  memento  of  my  island  home. 

We  reached  the  cape,  and  I  clambered  up  the  high- 
est rock  from  which  I  could  obtain  a  clear  outlook,  and 


Il8  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

found  my  buoy  all  right,  rising  and  falling  with  the  swell, 
now  submerged,  and  now  reappearing,  evidently  tugging 
at  its  anchor-rope,  and  securely  held  thereby. 

I  thought  how  peacefully  slept  the  ancient  hulk  be- 
neath all  this  turbulence.  Undisturbed  by  wind  or 
wave  it  lay  there  slowly  changing  its  tough  timbers  of 
Andalusian  oak  back  into  the  elements  from  which 
they  sprang.  I  thought,  too,  of  the  indestructible  gold 
that  lay  buried  there,  waiting  the  fulness  of  time  for  its 
reappearance  in  the  active  life  of  man ;  how  long  the 
years  had  been  since  it  had  felt  the  grip  of  avarice  or 
slid  freely  from  the  fingers  of  charity. 

Suddenly  I  saw  away  upon  the  rim  of  the  sea  in  the 
northeast,  in  the  very  eye  of  the  wind,  the  white  glint 
of  a  small  sail.  The  mist,  the  waves,  and  the  changing 
rain  hid  it  momently,  and  then  it  would  gleam  out  again 
a  white  spark  among  the  gray.  I  watched  it  intently 
for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  made  out  that  it  must  be 
a  small  schooner-rigged  boat  hove  to  with  jib  and  close 
reefed  mainsail,  drifting  bodily  before  the  wind,  and  roll- 
ing in  a  frightful  manner.  The  mainmast  had  been 
broken  off  at  the  top,  and  on  the  foremast,  half-masted, 
fluttered  a  red  flag.  I  made  out  clearly,  presently,  that 
the  craft  was  merely  a  half- decked  boat  similar  to  my 
own,  though  perhaps  of  somewhat  larger  size,  and  I 
thought  I  could  see  somebody  on  board,  but  could  not 
distinguish  clearly.  But  of  course,  if  it  was  hove  to, 
there  would  be  some  one  on  board,  as  such  a  condition 
of  the  canvas  would  not  be  likely  to  occur  by  accident 
in  a  boat  fortuitously  adrift.  If  the  wind  held  in  the 
present  quarter,  the  boat  was  certain  to  drift  on  to 
the  island,  and  that  too  in  a  short  time.  It  would  not 
take  above  t\vo  hours  and  a  half  for  it  to  reach  the 
breakers,  unless  it  could  run  before  the  wind  and  thus 
make  a  course  to  avoid  the  island.  Very  soon  indeed, 


THE   CASTAWAYS.  119 

the  island  would  be  a  lee  shore,  and  an  exceedingly 
dangerous  one.  I  marvelled  greatly  that  they  did  not 
seem  to  see  this  danger. 

There  was  but  one  thing  I  could  do,  and  that  was  the 
preparation  of  beacon-fires  to  guide  them  into  the  creek 
mouth,  the  only  harbor  on  the  east  coast  of  the  island. 
With  this  in  view  I  hurried  as  fast  as  possible  down  the 
beach  to  the  house,  and  laid  two  fires,  one  on  each  side 
of  the  creek  mouth,  heaping  up  the  dry  wood  from  my 
store  in  such  a  manner  that  it  would  make  a  great 
blaze,  and  getting  all  in  readiness  to  light  as  soon  as  the 
sun  went  down.  The  wind  was  appreciably  less,  and 
I  believed  was  gradually  decreasing.  Moreover,  it  had 
now  stopped  raining,  and  I  could  see  the  boat  more 
distinctly. 

An  hour  before  sunset  I  thought  it  would  be  possible 
to  go  out  with  my  own  boat  under  double-reefed  can- 
vas, and  intercept  the  stranger.  Something  was  un- 
doubtedly wrong  on  board  of  her,  otherwise  she  would 
not  be  allowed  thus  to  drift  to  leeward  without  control, 
with  the  island  in  plain  sight.  If  there  should  prove  to 
be  no  one  on  board,  I  might  possibly  be  able  to  save 
the  boat,  which  could  hardly  fail  to  prove  better  than 
my  own.  On  the  other  hand,  should  there  be  some  one 
on  board,  I  might  render  valuable  assistance.  I  deter- 
mined forthwith  to  make  the  attempt.  So  I  lighted  my 
fires  and  got  on  board. 

It  was  no  easy  matter  to  run  my  boat  out  over  the 
bar  in  the  teeth  of  a  half-gale  of  wind ;  and  I  did  not 
accomplish  it  without  getting  completely  wet  through, 
as  I  was  obliged  to  tail  on  behind  and  push  her  out 
through  the  breakers  until  I  was  immersed  to  my  neck 
in  salt  water,  and  then  clamber  in  over  the  stern  and 
haul  aft  the  main  sheet  with  the  sail  flapping  and  thun- 
dering as  though  determined  to  burst  loose.  However, 


I2O  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

I  soon  got  her  under  control  and  was  gliding  along 
close  hauled  on  the  starboard  tack,  with  the  spray,  as 
she  pitched  nose  down,  flying  as  high  as  the  gaff,  and 
raining  down  on  the  deck  in  bucketfuls. 

The  sun  was  about  an  hour  high  as  I  left  the  creek, 
and  the  strange  boat  in  plain  sight  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  dead  to  windward.  I  could  easily  get  to  windward 
of  her  in  a  single  tack,  by  standing  well  off  shore  on 
the  first  slant. 

When  I  came  up  near  enough  to  hail  I  did  so,  and 
got  no  response.  Getting  to  windward  I  wore  and  ran 
down  quite  to  the  boat,  and  letting  both  sheets  go,  loos- 
ened the  halliards  and  lowered  the  mainsail,  and 
brought  my  own  boat  close  up  along  side.  For  the 
moment  my  own  sail  hid  the  vessel  and  I  could  not  see 
what  was  before  me.  But  now  I  looked  and  saw  lying 
in  the  stern  sheets  what  seemed  to  be  the  corpse  .of  an 
old,  gray-haired  man  of  perhaps  seventy  years,  the  head 
held  by  a  girl  of  eighteen  or  thereabouts. 

I  never  shall  forget  the  look  that  was  on  her  face. 
Pale,  drawn,  with  dishevelled  hair,  and  dark  circles 
around  her  beautiful  eyes,  she  gazed  at  me  without  a 
word. 

"Do  you  know,"  cried  I,  "that  you  are  drifting  on 
to  the  beach  and  will  be  among  the  breakers  in  half 
an  hour?  " 

For  answer  she  pointed  to  her  dry  lips. 

"  Is  it  water  you  want  ?  " 

She  nodded.  I  hastily  cast  a  line  on  board  and  lashed 
the  two  vessels  together,  where  grinding  they  rose  and 
fell  with  the  waves,  and  then  seizing  a  gourd  of  water 
made  my  way  to  the  girl.  She  would  not  drink  herself 
until  after  I  had  poured  some  water  into  the  mouth  of 
the  old  man,  who  though  perfectly  helpless  was  still  alive, 
and  swallowed  the  water  as  fast  as  I  gave  it  to  him. 


THE   CASTAWAYS.  121 

Then  I  held  the  mouth  of  the  heavy  gourd  to  her 
own  lips  until  I  thought  she  had  drunk  enough.  She 
gripped  it  with  both  hands,  and  I  had  to  force  it  away 
from  her.  It  was  a  pitiful  sight. 

But  there  was  no  time  to  lose,  for  we  were  fast  drifting 
into  the  breakers,  and  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  get 
the  boats  before  the  wind  and  get  steerage  way  on,  or 
we  should  be  on  shore  and  dashed  to  pieces  by  the 
rollers.  I  sprang  forward  and  loosened  the  main  sheet 
of  the  strange  boat,  unlashed  the  helm  which  was  tied 
amidships,  and  she  paid  off  at  once  handsomely. 

The  sun  was  now  quite  down,  but  my  two  beacon- 
fires  burned  brightly,  and  I  steered  straight  for  them. 
Finding  my  own  boat  alongside  had  a  tendency  to  bring 
us  around  to  the  wind,  I  put  the  helm  into  the  girl's 
hand  and  bade  her  hold  it  just  so,  and  jumping  on  to 
my  own  boat  lowered  the  jib,  that  was  still  set,  cast  off 
the  lashing,  and  hitching  a  line  forward  made  her  fast 
to  tow.  I  then  hauled  up  and  got  on  board  the  other 
boat  again,  and  let  my  own  boat  drop  behind  us.  Now  I 
found  no  difficulty  in  steering,  though  my  own  boat  would 
yaw  and  pull  a  little,  first  one  way  and  then  the  other. 

We  were  soon  close  to  the  bar,  and  I  felt  no  little  ap- 
prehension as  to  what  might  happen  when  we  actually 
encountered  the  huge  roller  which  broke  every  few  mo- 
ments there.  But  there  was  no  help  for  it ;  we  must 
take  our  chances,  one  of  which  —  and  not  the  least 
probable  —  was  that  the  first  boat  might  ground  and 
the  one  in  tow  come  crashing  in  on  top  of  us.  Fortu- 
nately, —  for  it  was  pure  good-luck,  —  we  struck  a  roller 
just  at  the  right  moment  which  lifted  us  over  the  bar  as 
it  broke.  The  tow-line  snapped  in  twain  as  we  were  on 
the  crest,  and  my  own  boat  shot  alongside  like  a  water- 
fowl and  passed  us,  both  boats  riding  into  the  creek 
alongside  of  each  other,  the  red  glare  of  the  beacon- 


122  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

fires  at  either  hand  lighting  up  the  scene  like  the  last 
act  of  a  sensational  drama. 

As  soon  as  we  were  fairly  in  the  creek  I  jumped  over- 
board, the  water  not  being  above  my  chest,  and  beached 
both  the  boats  safely.  The  girl  still  sat  holding  the  old 
man's  head,  and  had  not  spoken  a  word.  But  she  fol- 
lowed my  motions  with  her  eyes,  and  I  could  easily 
read  therein  that  she  was  grateful  enough  for  my  ex- 
ertions, and  appreciated  the  danger  we  had  escaped. 

The  old  man  could  apparently  neither  speak  nor 
move.  An  ashen  pallor  lay  on  his  countenance,  and 
one  side  of  his  face,  especially  one  corner  of  his  mouth, 
was  drawn  down  and  distorted,  —  a  sufficient  indication, 
had  I  understood  it,  that  he  was  suffering  from  a  stroke 
of  paralysis.  From  his  clothing,  which  was  soaked  with 
spray,  I  could  easily  see  that  he  was  a  clergyman. 

I  helped  the  girl  out,  partly  carrying  her  as  she  could 
scarcely  stand,  and  then  attempted  to  lift  out  the  old 
man.  He  was  a  heavy,  strongly  built  man,  weighing  all 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  A  heavy,  helpless 
man  is  about  as  awkward  a  burden  as  one  can  imagine. 
Limp  and  yielding  he  could  not  be  picked  up  except 
by  the  middle,  and  he  was  so  lying  in  the  boat  that  it 
was  impossible  for  me  to  get  a  good  hold  of  him  in  such 
position  as  to  exert  my  strength.  His  clothing,  all 
soaked  with  rain  and  salt  water,  clung  to  him,  and  must 
have  chilled  his  poor  helpless  body  through.  If  he  was 
to  live  at  all  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  get  him  warm 
and  dry  right  speedily. 

Meantime  the  poor  girl  stood  shivering  in  her  equally 
wet  garments,  looking  on  anxiously  at  my  efforts.  Fin- 
ally she  spoke  :  "  I  think  if  you  will  turn  him  across 
the  boat,  you  may  be  able  to  lift  his  head  and  shoulders 
up  here,"  -  —  placing  her  hand  on  the  gunwale.  "  Have 
courage,  dear  father,  he  will  be  gentle  with  you." 


THE   CASTAWAYS,  12$ 

A  wan  flicker,  somewhat  like  the  wrecked  ghost  of  a 
smile,  seemed  to  pass  over  the  old  man's  distorted  face 
at  the  words  of  the  girl,  the  first  I  had  heard  her  utter. 
It  was  idle  to  expect  any  help  from  her,  as  she  could 
scarcely  stand,  and  was  in  fact  partly  supporting  herself 
with  her  hands  on  the  boat.  Following  the  daughter's 
suggestion,  I  moved  her  father  around  until  he  lay 
thwartships,  and  then  placing  my  feet  on  the  gunwale 
and  seizing  him  under  the  arms  pulled  him  bodily  up 
until  his  head  and  shoulders  were  out  of  the  boat. 
Then  jumping  overboard  I  managed  to  get  him  fairly 
on  my  back,  his  back  to  my  own  with  my  two  hands 
under  his  armpits.  Though  I  accounted  myself  pretty 
strong,  and  the  hardy  life  on  the  island  had  by  no 
means  diminished  my  muscular  power,  this  lift  was  the 
very  limit  of  my  strength.  With  bare  feet  fairly  grip- 
ping the  yielding  sand,  and  the  water  above  my  knees, 
I  managed  to  stagger  through  it  to  the  shore  and  up  to 
the  work-shed,  where  I  sank  on  my  knees  and  lowered 
him  to  the  ground.  The  girl  followed  us.  I  turned  to 
her  as  soon  as  my  breath  came,  and  said,  "  Go  and 
stand  by  the  fire,  you  are  chilled  almost  to  death.  I 
shall  be  able  to  get  your  father  into  the  house  and 
into  a  warm,  dry  bed,  where  I  can  change  these  wet 
clothes." 

"  I  can  be  of  some  help,  can  I  not  ?  "  said  she  with  a 
piteous  look.  "  Oh,  sir,  be  careful  and  gentle  with  him, 
I  beseech  you." 

"  No,  I  can  manage  better  alone,  and  you  need  to 
warm  yourself,"  said  I,  and  without  waiting  longer  I 
stooped  to  the  old  man  again,  and  now  with  much 
greater  ease  managed,  by  putting  my  arms  around  him, 
to  lift  him  and  carry  him  to  the  house,  where  I  laid  him 
down  on  the  floor,  and  immediately  went  to  the  beacon- 
fire  near  which  the  girl  was  seated.  I  secured  two 


124  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

half-burned  pieces  of  wood,  and  returning  to  the 
house  built  a  rousing  good  fire  in  the  chimney,  and 
lighted  a  candle.  Then  as  rapidly  as  I  could  do  so  I 
stripped  off  his  clothes  and  rolled  him  in  a  dry  blanket 
on  a  couch  of  grass. 

"Are  you  more  comfortable  now?" 

For  answer  came  the  abortive  flicker,  as  of  a  throttled 
smile,  and  he  closed  and  opened  his  eyes  once  or  twice 
as  though  assenting. 

"  Can't  you  speak  at  all?  " 

A  sort  of  struggle  seemed  to  come  over  his  face ; 
then  he  closed  his  eyes  and  held  them  shut  for  a  mo- 
ment. It  then  dawned  upon  me  that  the  man  was  suf- 
fering from  a  paralytic  stroke.  Up  to  this  time,  without 
giving  the  matter  any  particular  attention,  I  had  thought 
that  perhaps  he  was  merely  suffering  from  chill  and  ex- 
haustion, and  several  times  during  my  tremendous 
struggle  with  his  weight  it  had  been  on  my  tongue  to 
urge  him  to  exert  himself  for  his  own  sake.  Now  the 
awful  nature  of  his  condition,  his  utter  helplessness,  the 
mental  torture  he  must  have  endured  and  be  yet  endur- 
ing, came  upon  me  and  must  have  shown  itself  in  my 
face ;  for  as  he  looked  at  me  he  closed  his  eyes  again 
in  the  same  manner  as  before.  There  he  lay  swathed 
in  the  blanket,  his  intelligence  intact,  perfectly  able  to 
see  all  that  went  on  around  him,  and  to  realize  his  situa- 
tion and  condition,  doubtless  also  fully  alive,  so  far  as 
sensation  went,  to  every  pain  and  discomfort,  and  yet 
utterly  unable  to  stir  hand  or  foot  or  speak  a  word. 
Even  distorted  as  his  face  was,  there  was  the  stamp  of 
a  noble,  generous  nature  upon  it,  and  a  venerable 
benevolence  yet  shone  forth  from  every  feature.  What 
a  terrible  fate  was  this.  I  was  moved  to  deepest  pity 
by  the  contemplation  of  it. 

I  placed  my  hand  upon  his  forehead  and  said  gently, 


THE   CASTAWAYS.  1 25 

"  Be  assured  and  rest  easy  now.  I  will  go  and  bring 
your  daughter  here  and  see  that  she  is  made  comfort- 
able. Here  are  food  and  shelter  for  you  both,  and 
you  are  most  heartily  welcome  to  it  and  to  my  best 
assistance." 

I  found  the  daughter  sitting  on  the  sand  before  the 
fire,  her  wet  garments  already  steaming  from  the  heat. 
I  told  her  that  her  father  was  as  comfortable  as  it  was 
possible  to  make  him,  and  that  she  had  better  go  to 
him  and  see  if  she  could  not  get  off  some  of  her  wet 
garments.  In  the  mean  time  I  would  get  some  food 
warm  for  them  both. 

"  For  pity's  sake,"  said  she  in  a  tremulous  and  vi- 
brant voice,  "  let  me  have  some  water.  We  have  been 
three  days  without  water  except  what  you  gave  us." 

Without  waiting  to  reproach  myself  for  not  doing 
sooner  what  I  should  have  known  from  personal  ex- 
perience was  the  thing  to  do,  I  ran  to  my  boat  and  got 
a  gourd  full  and  held  it  for  her  to  drink.  I  then  went 
with  her  to  the  house  and  gave  the  old  man  a  long 
drink. 

The  girl  then  said  to  me  that  on  board  there  was  a 
trunk  containing  her  clothing,  and  that  she  would  be 
glad  if  she  could  have  it ;  that  as  there  were  several 
chests  and  trunks  stowed  under  the  deck  forward,  I 
would  know  hers  by  such  and  such  marks  and  peculi- 
arities. I  went  down  and  got  the  trunk,  and  moreover 
took  out  a  chest  and  another  trunk,  which  I  put  under 
the  work-shed,  bringing  her  trunk  up  to  the  house.  I 
had  afterward  to  be  again  called  to  get  it  open  for  her, 
as  the  key  could  not  be  turned  by  her  slender  fingers. 

Getting  out  of  my  boat  a  pan  of  baked  pork  and 
beans,  I  proceeded  to  extemporize  a  hot  soup  by  mash- 
ing up  some  of  the  beans  and  adding  half  of  a  pepper- 
pod  and  some  water,  and  setting  the  preparation  on  the 


126  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

fire  to  come  to-  a  boil.  This  made  a  good  hot  porridge 
soup,  and  did  not  take  long  in  preparation.  When  it 
was  ready  I  went  up  to  the  house  with  the  kettle  and 
knocked  at  the  door;  it  was  opened  by  the  girl,  her 
dress  changed  for  a  dry  one  and  much  of  the  distress 
seemingly  gone  from  her  pale,  beautiful  face. 

"  Here,"  said  I,  "is  some  hot  bean  porridge  for 
your  father  and  you ;  and  here  are  a  couple  of  co- 
coanut-shells  from  which  to  eat  it.  I  will  take  some 
for  myself  down  at  the  shed." 

"  But,"  replied  she,  "  we  cannot  drive  you  out  of  your 
house,  sir ;  why  do  you  not  come  here  and  eat  with  us  ?  " 

"  Very  well,  if  you  like,"  said  I.  "  There  will  be 
some  corn-bread  also  and  plenty  of  water  to  drink." 

We  ate  heartily  of  the  soup  and  bread,  the  old  man 
taking  only  the  soup. 

I  then  brought  up  my  hammock  and  swung  it  as  low 
down  as  possible  for  the  girl,  and  took  back  the  main- 
sail, that  had  once  formed  a  tent  at  Farm  Cove,  to  use 
for  my  own  bed  at  the  shed.  I  explained  as  well  as  I 
could  how  she  should  sleep  in  the  hammock,  and  gave 
her  one  of  the  blankets.  She  assured  me  she  had  often 
slept  in  a  hammock  and  thought  she  could  manage  it. 
She  was  then  about  to  explain  how  she  and  her  father 
came  to  be  adrift  in  the  boat;  but  I  stopped  her  by 
saying,  "  No,  let  us  wait  until  to-morrow.  You  are  both 
exhausted  and  need  sleep  and  rest.  You  shall  tell  me 
all  about  it  in  the  morning."  And  then  I  wished  them 
both  good-night. 

"Good-night,  and  God  bless  you,  sir,  for  your  kind- 
ness," answered  the  girl. 

When  I  reached  the  shed,  built  up  a  fire  close  by, 
and  lay  down  it  was  after  nine  o'clock,  and  as  the  wind 
had  gone  down,  and  the  rain  was  over,  it  was  not  so 
chilly  as  to  make  wet  garments  especially  dangerous, 


THE  CASTAWAYS. 


though  sufficiently  disagreeable.  However,  rolled  up 
in  the  sail  with  my  feet  to  the  fire,  I  soon  felt  warm 
enough  to  sleep.  The  rescue  of  the  two  people  on  the 
island  seemed  likely  to  prove  at  least  a  temporary  hin- 
drance to  the  execution  of  my  plans  ;  for  I  could  not  see 
how  it  was  possible,  for  a  few  days  at  least,  to  leave  the 
island,  as  the  old  man  was  in  no  condition  to  undertake 
such  a  voyage  in  an  open  boat,  and  probably  would  not 
survive  it.  Indeed,  that  the  hardships  which  he  had 
already  undergone  had  not  killed  him  was  a  sufficient 
matter  for  wonder.  No,  I  could  not  leave  these  people 
now,  and  at  present,  for  days  and  perhaps  for  weeks,  it 
would  be  impracticable  and  cruel  to  attempt  to  carry 
him  away  either  in  my  boat  or  his  own.  Doubtless,  if 
I  were  to  suggest  departure,  they  would  agree  to  it,  and 
undertake  the  voyage  ;  but  I  saw  it  would  be  little  less 
than  murder.  However,  if  he  should  be  no  better  in  a 
week  or  two,  then,  provided  he  still  retained  his  present 
vitality,  it  might  be  wise  to  attempt  to  get  him  where  a 
physician  could  see  him. 

It  was  no  use  repining  over  this  enforced  delay. 
Humanity,  and  the  commonest  sense  of  duty  to  my  fel- 
lows, demanded  that  I  should  stand  by  these  helpless 
ones  so  long  as  they  stood  so  absolutely  in  need  of  my 
aid.  The  food  question,  which  had  long  since  ceased 
to  trouble  me,  might  now,  by  reason  of  the  increase  in 
the  number  of  mouths  to  fill,  become  something  to  re- 
quire considerable  exertion,  planning,  and  thought.  The 
weak  spot  in  the  larder  was  likely  to  be  the  supply  of 
breadstuffs  and  vegetables.  There  would  be  no  lack  of 
pork  and  fish.  Judging  from  the  appearance  of  several 
boxes  and  gunny  sacks  on  board  the  strangers'  boat, 
there  was  a  supply  of  food  there  which  might  be  relied 
upon  to  tide  over  any  present  necessity  that  might  arise, 
though  my  own  supply  was  still  considerable. 


128  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON, 

Then  too  I  must  rig  up  as  soon  as  possible  in  the 
house,  perhaps  by  hanging  a  curtain  which  could  be 
temporarily  drawn  at  night,  a  place  of  privacy  for  the 
girl.  At  night  the  old  man  would  require  somebody  to 
watch  him  more  or  less,  or  at  least  be  near  him.  I 
could  not  expect  his  daughter  to  take  this  all  upon  her- 
self, as  that  would  be  physically  impossible.  How  to 
manage  about  this  puzzled  me  considerably.  For  a 
short  stay  of  a  week  or  two  I  did  not  like  to  go  to  the 
considerable  trouble  of  enlarging  my  house,  and  yet 
the  requirements  of  the  situation  seemed  actually  to 
demand  three  separate  rooms. 

At  last,  as  a  compromise,  I  hit  upon  the  idea  of  cutting 
down  the  back  wall  of  the  house,  between  the  house 
proper  and  the  lean-to  addition  wherein  my  provisions 
were  stored,  and  which  had  been  used  upon  occasion 
as  a  smoke  house.  The  provisions  could  be  stored  if 
necessary  on  board  the  boats,  or  under  the  work-shed. 
And  a  wide  doorway  cut  between  the  two  compartments 
would,  with  a  curtain  dividing  the  larger  one,  give  me 
the  necessary  room.  I  myself  would  take  as  my  sleep- 
ing-place the  added  room,  and  by  arranging  a  couple 
of  bunks,  the  thing  would  be  done. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

ALICE    AND    HER    FATHER. 

THE  next  morning,  when  shortly  after  dawn  I  awoke 
from  a  sound,  refreshing  sleep,  my  clothes  were 
dried  upon  me,  the  storm  had  passed,  and  there  was 
promise  of  a  calm,  clear  day.  Raking  together  the  few 
coals  that  remained,  I  soon  had  my  fire  burning  brightly, 
and  then  went  down  to  look  at  the  two  boats  lying  in 
the  creek.  The  stranger  I  found  had  the  name  "  Alice  " 
painted  on  either  bow.  The  "  Alice  "  proved  upon  closer 
examination  a  much  larger  boat  than  the  "  Mohawk." 
She  was  fully  four  feet  longer,  and  much  broader  and 
deeper.  A  flush  deck  extended  aft  from  the  bows 
about  one  third  of  her  whole  length,  and  as  in  my  own 
boat,  was  carried  clear  aft  at  each  side  of  a  well  which 
was  protected  by  an  upright  washboard.  She  was  pro- 
vided with  an  iron  centre-board,  hinged  at  the  forward 
end  on  a  pivot.  A  very  considerable  rise  or  sheer  fore 
and  aft  indicated  that  she  would  be  pretty  safe  in  heavy 
weather  and  high  seas.  There  was  a  good  boat's-com- 
pass  swung  in  gimballs,  and  mounted  near  the  after  part 
of  the  well,  where  it  would  be  in  sight  of  the  steersman, 
and  an  extinguished  lantern  lying  near  it,  as  though  to 
be  used  when  needed,  for  a  binnacle  light.  The  boat 
was  very  strongly  built,  and  evidently  intended  as  a  sea- 
going craft.  An  oiled  tarpaulin,  buttoned  over  pins  on 
the  washboard,  partly  covered  the  well-hole  forward, 
and  evidently  could  be  drawn  over  the  whole  opening 
in  case  of  heavy  seas. 

9 


130  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

Of  course  I  was  much  interested  in  the  examination 
of  the  boat,  and  in  the  minutest  detail  of  her  construc- 
tion and  condition,  as  I  expected  when  I  came  to  leave 
the  island  to  use  her  instead  of  my  own  boat,  an  ex- 
change of  vessels  greatly  to  my  advantage.  On  the 
deck  just  forward  of  the  foremast  a  water  cask  had  been 
lashed.  The  two  hollowed  skids  nailed  to  the  deck 
were  still  there  in  place.  There  was  a  ringbolt  let  into 
the  deck  at  each  side  originally,  designed  to  take  the 
cask  lashings.  One  of  these  ringbolts  was  pulled 
through  the  deck  and  the  water  cask  was  gone.  This 
condition  told  the  story  almost  as  plainly  as  words.  A 
heavy  sea  had  struck  the  port  bow  and  coming  on 
board  had  washed  away  the  cask,  tearing  out  the  bolt. 
The  tarpaulin  had  saved  the  vessel  from  filling. 

I  looked  to  the  mooring-lines  to  see  that  both  boats 
were  secure,  and  then  waded  over  the  creek  to  a  place 
above  the  willows,  where  there  was  a  clear,  bright-bot- 
tomed pool,  sheltered  from  view  and  well  adapted  for 
the  fresh-water  bath  which  I  needed.  Here,  too,  was  a 
gourd  of  soap,  placed  there  on  former  occasions  for  the 
bath. 

I  was  in  the  very  midst  of  the  soap-and-water  refresh- 
ment when  I  saw  on  a  log  at  the  bank  and  among  the 
leaves  what  I  took  for  the  head  of  a  huge  python  or  boa 
constrictor.  A  hideous  head,  thrust  out  toward  me 
through  the  foliage,  bright  eyes  gleaming  like  jewels,  a 
wrinkled,  pouchy  throat,  —  the  unmistakable  reptilian 
characteristics,  —  caused  a  shiver  of  horror  to  pass 
through  me  for  a  moment.  My  first  impulse  was  to  fly 
and  leave  my  clothing  on  the  bank.  Up  to  this  time 
I  had  not  seen  a  single  snake,  great  or  small,  venomous 
or  harmless,  on  the  island.  Backing  and  edging  slowly 
away,  I  soon  reached  a  point  where  I  could  plainly  see 
that  my  terrible  snake  had  feet.  Ah  !  it  was  nothing 


ALICE  AND  HER  FATHER,  131 

more  nor  less  than  an  iguana,  a  great,  harmless  species 
of  lizard  that  loves  to  haunt  the  banks  of  the  streams ; 
not  only  harmless  but  edible,  a  delicate  morsel  for  an 
epicure,  hunted  as  zealously  as  the  Marylanders  seek 
for  diamond-back  terrapin. 

Instantly  from  fancying  myself  the  hunted  I  became 
the  hunter.  I  had  tasted  iguana-stew  at  Martinique, 
and  had  a  distinct  recollection  of  the  delicate  white 
meat,  with  a  flavor  apparently  compounded  of  those  of 
spring  chicken,  green  turtle,  and  frogs'  legs. 

The  reptile  remained  perfectly  motionless,  with  the 
exception  of  a  sort  of  regular  waving  of  the  folds  of  the 
pouched  throat.  I  quietly  lowered  myself  into  the  water 
and  went  a  few  rods  down  stream  to  the  boats,  where  I 
got  a  strong  cord  and  a  stout  ten-foot  cane  pole.  I  made 
a  running  noose  in  the  cord  and  hung  it  upon  the  pole. 
With  this  apparatus  I  returned  and  found  the  lizard  still 
pumping  slowly  away  with  his  throat,  in  precisely  the 
same  place  and  attitude.  Slowly  and  cautiously  I 
waded  up  at  one  side,  until  I  was  distant  the  length  of 
the  pole,  and  then  by  infinite  degrees  advanced  the 
noose,  watching  the  pumping  in  the  wrinkled  throat, 
until  the  loop  was  fairly  over  the  head,  but  of  course 
without  touching  the  reptile. 

Just  then  the  pumping  action  abruptly  stopped. 
But  I  did  not  wait  for  him  to  be  off.  On  the  contrary, 
I  hauled  aft  on  my  line  like  lightning,  the  noose  closed 
around  the  ugly  neck  and  jerked  a  fifty-pound  iguana 
splashing  into  the  creek.  As  I  had  no  mind  to  feel  his 
sharp  claws,  I  drove  the  end  of  the  pole  into  his  mouth 
and  thus  between  cord  and  pole  held  him  firmly  in  the 
water.  He  swam  like  a  fish,  but  he  was  too  securely 
caught  to  get  away.  I  dragged  him  up  to  the  bank 
where  my  clothing  lay,  and  getting  hold  of  my  knife 
dispatched  him ;  then  I  hurriedly  clothed  myself  and 


132  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

cleaned  the  iguana,  taking  off  the  skin  and  cutting  him 
up  ready  for  the  pot.  And  in  fifteen  minutes  a  good 
portion  of  him  was  in  my  iron  kettle  and  on  the  fire. 

Though  snaring  big  lizards  is  not  perhaps  within  the 
strict  limits  of  what  may  properly  be  called  true  sport, 
still  I  must  say  that  for  real  excitement,  eager  earnest- 
ness of  pursuit,  and  genuine  pleasure  at  the  capture,  I 
have  never  experienced  before  nor  since  anything 
approaching  the  hunter's  joy  excited  by  this  morning's 
pot  hunt  for  an  iguana. 

As  I  stood  by  the  fire  the  door  of  the  house  opened, 
and  the  girl  came  out.  She  had  on  some  sort  of  light 
dress,  and  all  trace  of  the  bedraggled  condition  of  the 
previous  evening  was  gone ;  her  brown  hair  was 
smoothly  swept  back  from  a  face  still  pale,  and  a  bit  of 
bright  ribbon  at  the  neck  gave  the  effect  of  a  flower. 
She  came  down  toward  me  with  a  kindly  smile  and  a 
good-morning  greeting,  which  I  returned.  Somehow 
a  senseless,  foolish  embarrassment  came  over  me,  which 
like  an  idiot  I  attributed  to  the  fact  that  I  did  not  know 
her  name.  Actuated  by  a  ridiculous  impulse,  I  pulled 
out  my  pocketbook  and  extracted  therefrom  a  stained 
and  withered  visiting-card,  whereon  in  the  most  recher- 
eht  style  of  the  copperplate  engraver's  art  appeared  my 
name,  "  William  Morgan."  This  precious  document 
I  handed  to  her  with  a  deliberate  bow,  hat  in  hand.  A 
smile  ran  over  her  countenance  as  she  bent  to  receive 
it,  so  very  expressive  that  I  could  not  fail  to  understand 
it.  She  was  undoubtedly  laughing  at  me.  Like  a  flash 
the  full  absurdity  and  incongruity  of  my  act  came  over 
me.  I  pictured  my  own  appearance,  —  barefoot,  clad 
in  pantaloons  of  moleskin  stained  to  a  thousand  tints  of 
autumn  brown  and  rolled  up  half-way  to  the  knee,  a 
blue  flannel  shirt  with  sleeves  rolled  up  and  throat  open, 
and  a  hat  of  bungling  rushes  ;  my  skin,  where  exposed, 


ALICE  AND  HER  FATHER.  133 

tanned  and  peeled;  a  great  bush  and  shock  of  hair, 
the  growth  of  nine  months,  tangled  and  unkempt,  faded 
by  the  sun  at  the  ends,  and  reaching  down  to  my 
shoulders ;  the  cavalier  air ;  the  limp,  red-stained,  dirty 
visiting  card.  I  felt  the  hot  blood  surge  for  a  moment 
into  my  face,  and  then  the  absurdity  of  it  all  overpow- 
ered me  and  I  laughed  aloud.  She  also,  after  a  little 
struggle,  and  looking  at  me  again  to  see,  perhaps, 
whether  I  was  hurt,  joined  in  the  chorus,  my  visiting- 
card  in  her  hand. 

"  Mr.  Morgan,"  said  she  presently,  "  both  my  father 
and  I  are  deeply  grateful  to  you.  You  saved  our  lives, 
and  your  kindness  and  tenderness  to  a  helpless  old  man 
I  shall  never  forget.  I  thank  you  for  him  and  for  my- 
self. My  father's  name,"  here  there  was  a  faint  indica- 
tion of  a  return  of  the  smile,  "  is  Caleb  Millward,  and 
mine  is  Alice." 

I  asked  her  how  her  father  had  passed  the  night,  and 
was  informed  that  he  had  slept  almost  continuously,  and 
was  still  slumbering  peacefully.  Then  I  told  her  that 
I  thought  her  father  was  suffering  from  paralysis,  pro- 
duced, probably,  by  cerebral  hemorrhage ;  that  some 
small  blood  vessel  had  burst  in  the  brain,  and  that  if 
this  could  become  absorbed  in  a  reasonably  short  period 
he  would  probably  recover  the  use  of  his  faculties  either 
wholly  or  partially  ;  that  we  could  only  await  results, 
keeping  him  warm,  well  nourished  and  quiet ;  that 
I  believed  this  was  all  the  best  of  doctors  could  do  for 
him,  and  that  we  must  put  our  trust  in  his  good  con- 
stitution and  the  favor  of  the  Almighty,  and  hope  for 
the  best. 

I  learned  from  her  account  that  her  father,  Caleb 
Millward,  was  a  missionary,  whose  work  for  the  past  five 
years  had  been  among  the  coolie  laborers,  of  whom 
large  numbers  from  Hindostan  and  the  lower  provinces 


134  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

of  China  had  been  imported  into  various  of  the  West 
India  Islands,  under  what  has  been  known  as  the  con- 
tract-labor system,  only  another  name  for  slavery. 
Her  mother  had  died  several  years  before,  during  a  yel- 
low fever  epidemic,  and  since  her  death  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Millward  had  broken  up  his  permanent  home  station, 
and  had  travelled  in  a  regular  circuit  from  point  to 
point  in  his  little  schooner,  making  a  complete  round  in 
a  period  of  about  six  months.  It  was  on  one  of  these 
trips,  while  sailing  from  one  small  island  to  another, 
that  the  series  of  mishaps  took  place  which  resulted  in 
their  being  cast  away.  There  was  on  board  only  her 
father,  herself,  and  a  young  Jamaican  of  English  de- 
scent, who  was  employed  to  help  sail  the  boat,  and  to 
take  care  of  the  vessel  when  in  port.  The  voyage  they 
were  at  the  time  engaged  upon,  was  a  traverse  of  about 
twenty  miles.  The  wind  was  fair  with  no  appearance 
of  bad  weather.  Suddenly  a  tremendous  wave  was 
seen  approaching,  not  parallel  with  the  swell  but  at  an 
angle  thereto.  All  three  saw  it  coming  down.  Her 
father  called  out  to  the  Jamaican  to  lower  some  sail, 
and  the  Jamaican  was  forward  at  this  work,  when  the 
sea  struck  the  boat  with  tremendous  force  and  dashed 
him  overboard,  and  also  tore  loose  the  water  cask  and 
carried  it  away.  The  Jamaican  never  rose  to  the  sur- 
face. Her  father,  she  said,  appeared  to  be  wonderfully 
affected  by  the  accident,  and  soon  grew  faint  and  half 
stupid.  Presently  partially  recovering,  he  set  the  sails 
so  that  the  boat  was  hove  to  under  the  sail  that  she 
subsequently  bore,  then  almost  immediately  sank  down 
unconscious.  He  remained  thus  all  day  breathing 
heavily,  and  then  came  to,  but  was  unable  to  move. 
So  they  drifted  without  water,  until  the  storm  came 
and  they  were  drenched  with  spray.  After  a  long 
period  of  suffering  they  were  rescued  as  we  have  seen. 


ALICE  AND  HER  FATHER.  135 

This  was  the  story  of  their  disaster.  Leaving  Miss 
Millward  to  watch  the  stew,  I  went  up  to  the  house, 
and  finding  the  old  man  now  awake  gave  him  a 
thorough  rubbing  with  my  hands,  —  a  sort  of  massage 
treatment,  —  until  the  circulation  of  the  blood  was  evi- 
dent on  the  surface.  This  seemed  to  do  him  good. 
Then  I  put  on  his  clothes,  now  dry,  and  returned  to  the 
fire. 

Miss  Millward  had  gone  down  to  the  "  Alice  "  and 
rummaged  out  some  spoons  and  knives  and  forks,  a 
small  tablecloth,  some  salt  and  some  black  pepper, 
three  bowls,  three  plates,  and  some  glass  tumblers,  and 
had  them  at  the  fire  in  a  hand  basket,  and  the  kettle 
containing  the  stew  had  been  removed  from  the  fire. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Morgan,"  said  she,  as  I  came  up,  "  Let 
us  understand  each  other.  I  intend  while  we  stay  here 
to  make  myself  useful.  I  have  been  taught  to  work, 
and  the  cooking  and  housekeeping  are  woman's  work. 
You  will  let  me  do  that  work  as  far  as  I  am  able,  will 
you  not  ? " 

"Certainly  I  will,  Miss  Millward.  There  will  be 
plenty  of  work  for  both  of  us.  It  will  relieve  me,  and 
frankly,  I  think  you  will  be  better  contented  and  happier 
for  it." 

"Very  well,  then.  Please  give  me  a  lift  with  this 
kettle  to  the  house.  Our  breakfast  is  ready  as  soon  as 
the  cloth  can  be  laid." 

That  breakfast  of  delicious  iguana-stew,  toasted  pilot- 
bread,  and  cool,  pure  water  sparkling  in  glass,  set  on  a 
clean,  white  cloth,  and  eaten  from  real  dishes  with  the 
table  implements  of  civilization,  will  linger  long  in  my 
memory.  I  picture  the  scene  before  me  even  now ; 
the  cool  white  interior,  the  old  man  stretched  on  the 
couch,  the  table  presenting  to  my  long  unaccustomed 
eyes  an  appearance  of  elegance,  though  plain  and  com- 


136  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

mon  enough  in  reality,  the  savory  fragrance  of  the 
stew,  the  beautiful  girl  seated  opposite  me,  the  open 
doorway,  and  the  glimpse  through  it  of  the  sunlit  sea,  — 
all  return  to  me  as  a  happy,  pleasant  dream.  It 
seemed  to  me  then  like  a  dream,  and  as  though  it  all 
might  fade  away  on  awakening. 

Heretofore  I  had  eaten  my  food  in  a  perfunctory 
fashion,  spending  no  unnecessary  time  over  it,  with  no 
special  enjoyment  except  the  satisfaction  due  to  hunger 
allayed.  Now  all  was  different.  Meals  were  about  to 
become,  I  foresaw,  delightful  domestic  episodes,  en- 
livened by  talk  and  rendered  social  by  companionship. 
This  was  life,  and  not  a  mere  struggle  for  existence. 

We  discussed  the  proposed  changes  to  be  made  in 
the  interior  by  cutting  an  enlarged  opening  through  to 
the  store-room,  the  hanging  of  a  sail-cloth  curtain,  and 
the  building  of  bunks.  I  explained  how  I  was  cast 
upon  the  island,  and  my  experiences  since  then, 
But  I  did  not  mention  the  purpose  of  my  voyage 
nor  say  anything  about  the  wreck  of  the  galleon. 

When  finally  we  had  finished,  and  I  had  reluctantly 
risen,  she  said  :  "  Mr.  Morgan,  I  should  like  it  very 
much  if  you  would  get  me  a  broom." 

"  Nothing  will  be  easier,  Miss  Housekeeper,"  replied 
I,  and  immediately  brought  in  a  cedar-bough.  This  she 
eyed  ruefully,  but  accepted  as  the  only  available  substi- 
tute for  the  familiar  domestic  weapon. 

All  that  day  I  devoted  to  the  work  of  clearing  out 
the  store-house,  cutting  the  opening,  rigging  up  the 
curtain,  and  building  a  bunk  for  myself  in  the  new  apart- 
ment. I  did  not  build  the  second  bunk,  as  I  had  in- 
tended, for  a  new  plan  had  occurred  to  me ;  namely, 
to  construct  a  movable  couch  for  Mr.  Millward  to  lie 
upon,  and  on  which  I  could  convey  him  on  occasion 
out  into  the  sun  or  on  the  porch,  and  upon  which  he 


ALICE  AND  HER  FATHER.  137 

might  be  propped  up  in  a  sitting  posture.  But  before 
the  day  was  over  I  had  arranged  some  shelving  at  each 
side  of  the  fireplace  for  Miss  Millward's  dishes  and 
domestic  appliances.  It  was  simply  delightful  to  be 
called  to  a  dinner  that  I  had  no  hand  in  preparing,  and 
to  witness  the  air  of  homelike  comfort  given  to  the 
little  house  by  this  girl.  The  whole  atmosphere  seemed 
changed.  Not  that  one  could  note  any  great  or  marked 
alteration ;  but  in  little  details  here  and  there,  were  evi- 
dences of  a  woman's  hand,  —  a  bit  of  white  cloth  dis- 
posed over  the  windows  as  a  curtain,  my  nautilus  shell 
set  on  the  mantel-shelf  with  a  spray  of  flowers,  and  a 
hundred  similar  trifles ;  perhaps  most  of  all,  the  unac- 
customed presence  of  others,  the  sound  of  a  woman's 
voice,  her  light  footstep,  and  the  rustle  of  her  garments. 
I  did  not  attempt  to  analyze  my  feelings,  but  at  any  rate 
the  place  seemed  like  a  home,  and  I  began  in  advance 
to  regret  the  day  of  leaving  it. 

That  night  I  slept  again  at  the  shed.  Before  I  re- 
tired, however,  Miss  Millward  asked  me  to  wait  until 
she  read  a  chapter  in  the  Bible  to  her  father.  And 
when  this  was  done  she  gently  lifted  the  old  man's 
helpless  hands  together  in  an  attitude  of  prayer,  and 
then  prayed  aloud  herself,  in  such  a  pathetic  and  ten- 
der manner  that  the  tears  came  to  my  eyes  in  spite  of 
myself. 

The  next  day,  after  getting  a  stock  of  cedar,  I  started 
to  fashion  the  couch  for  Mr.  Millward.  This  with  the 
making  of  another  armchair  occupied  two  days.  The 
couch  I  made  like  a  great  chair,  with  a  back  pivoted  to 
fold  down  or  prop  up,  and  wove  an  upholstery  of  rushes. 
It  occurred  to  me  that  I  could  easily  saw  some  wheels 
out  of  a  round  limb  and  mount  them  as  rollers  on  which 
to  move  the  couch  more  easily  over  the  smooth  floor ; 
and  this  improvement  I  added.  When  the  couch  was 


138  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

finished  there  was  then  a  bunk  for  each  of  the  well 
ones  and  the  couch  (or  the  invalid,  and  I  therefore  took 
up  my  quarters  in  the  house,  which  I  was  glad  to  do,  as 
I  could  then  give  Miss  Millward  a  needed  relief  in  help- 
ing watch  the  sick  man  at  night.  By  wheeling  his 
couch  beside  my  own  this  was  an  easy  matter. 

In  the  morning  we  wheeled  the  old  gentleman  out 
upon  the  porch  and  propped  him  up  for  a  rest,  until  he 
would  sign  with  his  eyes  to  be  lowered  again.  I  kept 
up  the  rubbing  daily.  At  the  end  of  about  a  week  I 
noticed  that  he  could  move  the  fingers  of  his  right 
hand.  This  was  a  most  promising  sign  ;  and  I  then  be- 
gan to  rub  him  regularly  three  times  a  day.  In  the 
course  of  two  days  more  he  could  use  this  hand  and 
arm  quite  freely,  and  recovered  some  power  in  the 
muscles  of  his  neck  so  that  he  could  turn  his  head. 
But  though  he  could  utter  some  unintelligible  sounds 
he  could  not  yet  articulate  anything.  He  kept  making 
signs  as  though  he  wanted  something,  which  I  could 
not  understand.  I  got  out  a  pencil  and  some  paper, 
which  he  took  and  attempted  to  write,  but  I  could  not 
read  the  characters.  His  daughter,  however,  coming 
out  just  then,  was  able  to  comprehend  his  wants  at  once, 
and  going  in  to  where  his  coat  hung,  brought  out  his 
spectacles  and  placed  them  on  his  eyes.  The  old  man 
then  wrote  plainly  the  word  "  Bible,"  and  the  book  was 
brought  to  him.  Propped  up  on  his  couch  he  turned 
the  leaves  and  began  to  read  with  an  air  of  perfect  con- 
tentment. The  distorted  appearance  of  his  face  had 
gradually  been  passing  away,  and  when  his  daughter 
gave  him  the  book  his  countenance  was  lighted  up  with 
a  singularly  sweet  smile. 

In  the  present  condition  of  the  old  man  I  felt  that  if 
he  could  have  a  little  generous  wine,  as  port  or  Madeira, 
to  drink  it  would  be  a  benefit  to  him.  Some  alcoholic 


ALICE  AND  HER  FATHER.  139 

stimulant  in  small  amount  was  evidently  what  he 
needed.  But  such  a  thing  could  not  be  had.  Why 
should  I  not  make  whiskey?  I  remembered  that  the 
negroes  frequently  made  what  they  called  palm  wine 
from  the  juice  of  the  cocoanut  palm.  And  I  had  drunk 
both  the  sweetish,  fresh  preparation  and  the  same  in  the 
sour,  fermented  stage,  the  latter  being  quite  alcoholic 
in  its  nature.  Moreover,  I  knew  the  whole  process  of 
obtaining  this  drink ;  for  I  had  watched  the  negro  boys 
climb  the  palms  at  Martinique,  bind  and  cut  the  un- 
opened flower  spathes,  and  attach  the  small  gourds  or 
little  earthen  chatties  to  catch  the  juice  as  it  trickled 
out. 

Without  explaining  my  purpose  either  to  the  old  man 
or  his  daughter,  I  climbed  six  palms  that  evening, 
bound  the  flower  spathes  to  prevent  them  from  open- 
ing, tied  them  in  a  bent  position,  and  cut  off  the  point, 
attaching  to  each  spathe  a  gourd  to  receive  the  liquid 
drippings.  The  next  morning  I  collected  from  these 
trees  nearly  two  gallons  of  sweet  sap,  and  cutting  each 
spathe  to  a  fresh  surface  left  them  to  flow  again.  When 
I  brought  the  sap  down  it  was  already  beginning  to  fer- 
ment, and  had  somewhat  the  taste  of  sweet  cider  with  a 
slight  sparkle.  I  put  half  a  pint  of  it  in  a  bottle,  corked 
it  tight,  and  tied  the  cork.  Some  of  it  I  set  in  an  open 
gourd  in  the  shade ;  and  about  a  gallon  I  set  on  the 
fire  in  a  pan,  intending  to  boil  this  latter  portion  down 
into  syrup,  or  into  "jaggery,"  as  the  gummy,  sweet 
preparation  is  called.  In  about  three  hours  after  col- 
lecting it  that  portion  which  was  left  in  the  open  gourd 
had  changed  to  such  condition  as  to  have  a  sharp,  sub- 
acid  taste,  something  like  hock.  I  immediately  drank 
a  tumbler  full  of  it,  and  found  in  a  few  minutes  that  it 
had  indeed  already  developed  sufficient  alcohol  to  make 
that  amount  all  that  a  person  of  sober  habits  would 


140  THE   SPANISH  GALLEON. 

care  to  imbibe  at  one  time.  It  was  pleasant  to  the 
taste  and  very  refreshing,  and  had  a  sparkle  and  a  slight 
hum  like  new  ale,  when  poured  into  the  glass.  I  gave 
the  old  man  a  tumbler  full,  and  also  his  daughter,  and 
for  company's  sake  took  an  additional  half-tumbler  my- 
self. It  did  him  good,  apparently,  at  least  he  seemed 
greatly  to  relish  it,  and  held  out  his  glass  to  be  filled 
again. 

"  Why,  this  is  like  wine  !  "  exclaimed  Miss  Mill  ward, 
"  where  did  you  get  it  ?  " 

"We  have  wine  trees  on  our  island,  Miss  Millward, 
and  I  have  been  tapping  them,  as  you  will  see,"  point- 
ing to  the  suspended  gourds,  some  of  which  could  be 
seen  from  the  porch  where  we  sat  in  the  shade.  I  then 
explained  to  her  the  whole  process,  and  my  purpose  in 
making  the  wine.  I  showed  her  the  pan  of  boiling  sap, 
and  she  at  once  undertook  to  attend  to  the  treacle- 
making.  That  evening  at  supper  I  opened  the  bottle 
which  I  had  filled,  and  the  cork  flew  out  with  a  report 
like  a  pistol,  the  wine  bubbling  and  frothing  like  cham- 
pagne. This  the  invalid  drank  alone.  The  sap  left  in 
the  open  gourd  turned  quite  sour,  like  vinegar ;  but  I 
did  not  have  any  use  for  it  in  that  condition  and  so 
poured  it  out.  The  result  of  the  boiling  was  about  a 
pint  of  thick,  dark-colored  sweet  syrup,  or  treacle,  of  a 
rather  pleasant  taste.  By  carrying  the  boiling  still  far- 
ther it  could  of  course  be  reduced  to  the  condition  of 
the  sugar  called  jaggery.  But  it  was  more  convenient 
for  use  in  its  treacly  state. 

The  unusual  and  remarkable  rapidity  of  the  fermenta- 
tive change  in  this  palm-sap  had  the  attendant  incon- 
venience that  it  would  require  to  be  gathered  fresh 
every  day,  if  used  for  wine.  I  therefore  concluded  that 
I  would  make  a  still  and  distil  a  brandy  from  the  fer- 
mented sap,  which  I  could  subsequently  use  as  a  check 


ALICE  AND  HER  FATHER.  141 

to  the  fermentation  in  the  wine,  after  the  manner  that 
port-wine,  sherry,  Madeira,  and  other  similar  wines  are 
prepared.  I  took  a  large  earthen  jar  which  would  hold 
three  or  four  gallons,  and  luted  to  the  mouth  of  it  with 
clay  a  gourd  cut  with  an  opening  to  correspond  with 
the  jar  mouth.  I  then  procured  a  long,  straight  cane 
about  three  inches  in  diameter  at  the  butt,  tapering  in 
a  length  of  twenty  feet  to  less  than  an  inch.  I  split 
this  cane  throughout  the  whole  length  and  cut  away 
the  septum  or  partition  which  occurs  at  each  joint. 
I  then  joined  the  two  split  halves  together,  pitched  the 
joint,  and  wound  the  whole  length  with  cord  to  hold  it 
solid,  and  afterwards  wound  over  all  a  grass  rope  of 
rather  loose  texture.  In  the  neck  of  the  gourd  I  in- 
serted the  butt  of  this  cane  tube  and  luted  the  joint 
with  clay,  but  so  that  it  could  be  removed.  The  cane 
tube  led  away  in  a  nearly  horizontal  direction,  having 
a  slight  fall  from  the  gourd  outward. 

I  now  collected  palm-sap  enough  to  fill  the  jar,  and 
when  it  had  undergone  a  full  fermentation,  and  just 
before  it  turned  sour,  I  set  it  on  in  the  still  to  boil  over 
a  fire.  The  gourd  and  tube  were  in  place  and  the 
joints  well  luted.  Then  as  soon  as  the  fermented  sap 
began  to  boil  and  throw  off  vapor,  I  wet  the  grass  rope 
that  surrounded  the  tube,  and  set  a  vessel  to  receive 
what  came  dripping  from  the  end  of  the  tube  in  drops. 
Very  soon  the  brandy  began  to  come  over  in  a  warm, 
thin,  trickling  stream.  When  I  had  collected  a  little 
over  a  quart  I  stopped  the  process  for  fear  of  getting 
some  other  product  over.  It  was  good,  strong  brandy, 
and  had  no  disagreeable  flavor,  being  quite  clear,  with 
a  slight  yellow  tint. 

I  had  now  what  I  needed  for  my  wine-making,  and 
made  use  of  it  in  the  following  manner  :  I  collected  a 
fresh  supply  of  the  sap  and  permitted  fermentation  to 


142  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

proceed  in  it  until  it  was,  as  I  thought,  at  the  precise 
point  where  it  had  the  best  sub-acid  flavor.  I  then 
added  some  of  the  palm  syrup  to  sweeten  it  a  little,  and 
also  enough  of  the  brandy  —  about  half  a  pint  to  the 
gallon  —  to  stop  the  further  fermentation.  The  wine 
so  prepared  had  a  rough  resemblance  to  port.  It  was 
quite  pleasant  to  the  taste,  and  would  keep  any  length 
of  time.  Having  now  a  supply  of  about  two  gallons  I 
made  no  more,  as  there  was  enough  for  the  invalid, 
and  nobody  else  needed  it,  or  cared  particularly  for 
it. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   PROBLEM. 

DAY  by  day  the  old  man  slowly  improved  in  condi- 
tion, until  at  the  end  of  three  weeks  he  was  able 
to  sit  in  the  armchair  with  comfort.  He  startled  us  one 
morning  by  uttering  his  daughter's  name,  and  little  by 
little  recovered  the  use  of  his  tongue.  He  was  not  yet 
able  to  stand  or  walk,  and  it  was  still  doubtful  whether 
he  would  recover  the  use  of  his  lower  limbs.  I  felt 
reasonably  confident,  however,  that  he  would  do  so 
ultimately. 

As  soon  as  he  could  talk,  almost  his  first  words  were 
a  request  to  me  to  get  the  Jamaican  sailor's  chest  from 
the  boat  and  use  the  clothing  for  myself.  I  was  glad 
enough  to  do  this,  as  almost  any  sort  of  change  was 
acceptable.  I  found  in  the  chest  a  number  of  good 
shirts,  both  woollen  and  cotton,  a  good,  serviceable  suit 
of  dark  tweed,  and  two  complete  suits  of  white  duck ; 
also  socks  and  underwear,  and  a  good  straw  hat.  These 
things  fitted  me  very  well,  but  a  pair  of  dancing  pumps 
were  so  small  that  I  could  not  get  them  on  my  feet ; 
however,  my  own  shoes  were  still  very  good.  The 
kind-hearted  old  man  then  said  that  if  I  wished  it  he 
would  cut  my  hair;  he  thought  he  could  use  his 
daughter's  scissors  well  enough.  But  I  did  not  fancy 
having  him  clipping  about  my  ears  with  uncertain  fin- 
gers, and  resolutely  declined.  My  hair,  which  now 
reached  to  my  shoulders,  was  as  long  as  it  was  likely 


144  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

to  grow.  The  ends,  exposed  freely,  would  naturally 
wear  and  fray  away  as  fast  as  it  grew,  and  I  concluded 
to  let  it  go  as  it  was  until  I  reached  civilization. 

Thinking  about  my  plans  one  day,  it  occurred  to  me 
that  it  would  not  be  a  bad  idea  to  plant  a  garden  for 
use  when  I  should  return  to  the  island.  Potatoes  and 
yams,  and  fresh  green  corn  would  not  be  a  bad  provi- 
sion to  have  ready  at  hand  in  plenty  while  working  at 
the  sunken  galleon.  There  was  a  patch  of  good,  rich 
soil  near  the  creek,  now  covered  with  dry  grass,  beneath 
which  the  new  grass  had  sprung  since  the  rains.  By 
burning  it  over  the  ground  might  be  readily  cleared  for 
a  couple  of  acres  in  extent.  I  put  fire  to  it  at  several 
places  on  the  windward  side  and  it  was  soon  black  and 
bare.  I  began  at  once  with  the  shovel  to  break  up  the 
soil  in  spots,  and  to  make  hills  for  the  potatoes  and 
yams,  and  to  form  a  place  in  which  to  plant  the  corn. 
With  the  hoe  I  could  subsequently  go  over  the  ground 
between  the  hills  and  cut  up  the  grass  when  it  started. 
After  I  had  been  working  a  couple  of  days  at  this 
severe  labor,  Mr.  Millward  asked  me  why  I  thought  it 
necessary  to  prepare  to  plant  so  extensively,  as  we 
should  soon  be  leaving  the  island. 

"  I  shall  be  well  enough  in  a  week  or  two  longer  to 
go.  You  are  making  provision  there  as  though  you 
expected  we  were  all  to  remain  here  for  six  months 
longer,"  said  he. 

I  looked  at  him  a  moment  before  answering,  debat- 
ing with  myself  what  reply  to  make.  At  last  I  said, 
"  Mr.  Millward,  I  expect  to  return  to  this  island  after  we 
have  reached  Martinique." 

"And  why  should  you  do  that?"  he  asked,  with  an 
air  of  surprise. 

"  I  may  tell  you  the  reason  why,  and  think  perhaps 
I  shall,"  I  answered,  and  continued  after  a  pause,  "  I 


THE  PROBLEM.  145 

believe  I  may  trust  you,  and  that  you  will  not  betray 
me.  It  is  now  a  secret  known  only  to  me." 

The  old  man  said  no  more,  and  we  changed  the  sub- 
ject of  conversation. 

That  afternoon  while  at  work  in  the  new  garden  I 
considered  carefully  the  propriety  of  telling  the  Mill- 
wards  about  the  galleon.  It  would  be  a  great  comfort 
to  have  some  one  to  talk  to  and  advise  with  concerning 
the  matter,  and  I  already  knew  enough  of  these  people 
to  feel  confident  they  would  not  betray  me.  On  the 
other  hand  was  it  best  to  tell  any  one  of  my  secret? 
But  I  finally  decided  to  give  them  my  confidence.  And 
that  evening,  as  we  sat  in  front  of  the  fire,  —  a  chill  rain 
having  set  in,  —  I  told  to  the  father  and  the  daughter 
the  whole  story  of  my  coming  to  the  island,  the  search 
for  the  wreck,  the  successful  location  of  the  sunken 
hulk,  and  also  what  my  plans  for  the  future  were.  Mr. 
Millward  after  listening  to  it  all  said,  "  Now,  Mr.  Mor- 
gan, I  am  better  able  to  appreciate  the  sacrifice  you  are 
making  in  remaining  here  with  us,  and  the  great  incon- 
venience to  which  we  are  putting  you.  Is  it  not  better 
that  you  should  start  at  once  ?  I  think  I  shall  now  be 
able  to  stand  the  voyage." 

"  As  soon  as  you  are  strong  enough  to  stand  the  voy- 
age, Mr.  Millward,"  said  I,  "  we  will  start ;  but  not  be- 
fore that  time." 

Mr.  Millward  now  asked  to  see  the  pearls  of  which 
I  had  told  him  in  the  course  of  my  statement.  When 
I  had  handed  them  to  him,  he  said,  "  These  pearls  are 
highly  valuable.  I  am  sufficiently  familiar  with  the  value 
of  such  gems  to  be  able  to  assure  you  that  you  have  ten 
thousand  dollars'  worth  here,  at  a  very  low  estimate, 
and  perhaps  double  that  amount  in  value." 

I  asked  him  where  I  could  find  a  market  for  them. 
He  thought  that  it  would  not  be  wise  to  attempt  to  sell 


146  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

them  anywhere  in  the  islands,  unless  at  Havana,  but 
that  Havana  would  probably  prove  as  good  a  market 
as  I  could  find  anywhere.  He  further  told  me  that  he 
had  heard  a  rumor  of  a  valuable  pearl  fishery  having 
been  found  and  secretly  worked  somewhere  among  the 
islands.  No  doubt  this  island  was  the  place.  If  so  we 
might  expect  the  pearl  fishers  to  return  at  any  time. 
Now  this  was  a  prospect  which  was  very  far  from  pleas- 
ant to  contemplate ;  not  because  they  might  lay  claim 
to  my  pearls,  —  I  had  no  fear  of  that,  —  nor  because  I 
could  not  substantiate  my  right  to  the  abandoned  prop- 
erty, or  if  necessary  give  them  up  without  a  murmur. 
The  situation  was  more  serious  than  that.  These  pearl 
fishers,  if  they  came,  would  be  out  in  their  boats  and 
prowling  about,  and  would  be  sure  to  find  out  what  I 
was  doing.  Moreover,  they  would  doubtless  be  a  well 
armed,  lawless,  and  adventurous  set.  If  they  found  us 
on  the  island,  and  knew  that  we  had  discovered  their 
secret,  there  was  no  telling  what  they  might  do.  It 
made  me  feel  very  uneasy.  If  by  any  accident  they 
should  run  across  my  buoy,  the  first  thing  would  be  to 
send  a  diver  down  and  my  own  secret  would  be  disclosed. 

"  I  shall  go  to-morrow  morning  and  remove  that 
buoy,"  said  I. 

The  old  man  agreed  with  me  that  this  would  be 
advisable. 

That  night  I  slept  very  little  till  toward  morning.  All 
night  I  lay  thinking  about  the  galleon  and  the  treasure 
that  it  contained.  If  I  only  had  a  diving-apparatus 
I  could  see  my  way  clear.  The  old  man  and  his 
daughter  would  be  all  the  help  I  should  need.  I  began 
to  dislike  the  idea  of  leaving  the  island  even  tempora- 
rily, until  I  had  secured  the  treasure.  But  probably  I 
could  not  procure  a  submarine  helmet  and  diver's  dress, 
with  air-tubes  and  pump,  short  of  Kingston,  Jamaica, 


THE  PROBLEM.  147 

or  Havana  in  Cuba,  and  possibly  not  nearer  than  New 
York.  Ah  !  the  loss  of  my  diving-apparatus  was  a  vex- 
ing misfortune.  It  might,  and  probably  would  be  more 
than  six  months  before  I  could  get  back  with  these 
appliances.  This  line  of  cogitation  finally  brought  me 
around  to  the  thought  that  possibly  I  might  be  able  to 
make  a  diving-apparatus  myself  which  would  answer  my 
purpose.  Why  not  ?  There  must  be  some  way  to  do 
it.  And  why  shall  I  not  find  that  way  ?  I  began  to 
think  it  over  by  fairly  stating  the  problem  to  myself, 
and  before  I  went  to  sleep  I  had  convinced  myself  that 
I  could  make  all  the  needed  apparatus  except  the  air- 
pump.  But  this  was  a  device  I  could  see  no  way  to 
supply.  "Never  mind,"  thought  I,  "it  will  suggest 
itself  as  I  go  along,  if  I  keep  my  mind  upon  it.  I  will 
stay  and  try  it."  With  this  resolve  I  felt  better  con- 
tented, and  soon  dropped  to  sleep. 

At  dawn  I  was  up,  and  immediately  took  out  my 
boat  and  went  to  the  buoy.  The  wind  was  light  and  I 
had  no  difficulty  in  getting  fast  to  it.  Instead  of  taking 
up  the  buoy,  as  I  had  at  first  intended,  I  merely  short- 
ened the  anchor  line  so  that  the  buoy  was  held  under 
water  about  two  feet.  I  knew  that  the  gourds  would 
remain  in  this  condition  for  a  long  time,  and  with  my 
sights  on  shore  would  enable  me  to  find  the  neighbor- 
hood, while  they  would  not  be  likely  to  be  seen  by 
others  not  looking  for  them. 

When  this  was  done  I  sailed  back  to  the  creek  in 
time  for  breakfast,  congratulating  myself  on  the  addi- 
tional peace  of  mind  this  act  had  brought  me.  Now 
nobody  would  be  likely  to  stumble  on  the  galleon,  and 
I  could  give  my  thoughts  to  the  problem  before  me. 

As  I  rounded  into  the  creek  before  the  wind,  I  saw 
the  graceful  figure  of  Alice  Mill  ward,  who  was  coming 
down  from  the  house  to  look  after  her  fire  for  breakfast. 


148  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

When  I  came  up  I  found  her  lamenting  that  not  a  sin- 
gle spark  could  be  found  alight,  and  that  the  breakfast 
must  needs  be  late,  or  cold.  But  the  sun  was  already 
well  up  above  the  sea,  —  at  least  an  hour  and  a  half 
high,  —  and  I  found  no  difficulty  in  procuring  a  blaze 
with  the  burning-glass,  and  the  fire  was  soon  burning 
bravely. 

I  sat  down  in  the  shade  of  the  shed,  while  she  busied 
herself  with  the  simple  cookery,  and  thought  as  I  looked 
on,  what  a  beautiful  girl  this  was,  with  her  clean-cut 
profile,  her  floating  tendrils  of  silken,  brown  hair,  her 
well  rounded  form,  the  graceful  poise  of  her  shapely 
head,  the  elastic  step,  the  sweet  voice  humming  bits  of 
song,  the  cheerful,  musical  laugh.  She  was  fair  indeed, 
and  more  than  that  I  knew  she  was  pure  and  true 
in  everything,  a  lovely  and  lovable  woman.  I  then  and 
there  confessed  to  myself  that  she  had  become  a  part  of 
my  life.  I  was  in  love,  and  the  strange  delight  of  her 
presence  thrilled  my  heart  with  new  emotion.  Up  to 
this  time  my  thoughts  had  been  bent  solely  on  getting 
a  treasure  buried  in  the  sea ;  I  now  realized  that  here 
was  a  treasure  recovered  from  the  sea,  which  if  I  could 
hope  to  call  it  my  own,  would  far  exceed  in  value  all 
the  gold  and  jewels  ever  carried  by  the  richest  fleet  that 
ever  floated  on  the  Spanish  seas.  It  was  all  so  new 
and  strange  and  sudden  to  me  that  I  was  afraid  to  stay 
longer  near  her,  lest  I  might  be  obliged  to  speak  to  her, 
and  thus  betray  myself.  So  I  got  up  and  wandered 
away  to  the  edge  of  the  forest.  But  the  leaves  trem- 
bling in  the  gentle  morning  breeze  seemed  to  whisper 
my  secret ;  the  rasping  locust,  which  had  been  noisily 
droning  all  night  long,  seemed  to  play  it  in  every 
trill ;  the  birds  sang  it. 

So  this  was  love,  —  love  that  makes  the  world  go 
round ;  that  comes  once  at  least  into  each  life,  and  fills 


THE  PROBLEM.  149 

it  with  light  and  sweetness,  or  with  gloom  and  sorrow. 
When  did  I  begin  to  love  this  girl?  I  could  not  tell. 
Yesterday  I  did  not  know  it,  but  it  must  be  that  I  loved 
her  then  as  now ;  and  before  that  and  ever  since  I  had 
first  seen  her.  And  even  before  I  had  seen  her  had 
not  my  heart  been  waiting  for  her?  But  now  I  felt  that 
somehow  our  relations  had  changed.  Could  I  have 
again  the  sense  of  comradeship  that  I  had  felt  toward 
her?  Would  she  not  see  a  change  in  me?  I  could 
not  analyze  this  new  sensation  nor  predict  what  would 
happen.  A  dreadful  doubt  and  uncertainty  oppressed 
my  heart  simultaneously  with  its  new-born  gladness. 
Could  I  hope  that  this  sweet  maid  would  ever  find  any- 
thing to  love  in  me  ? 

A  hot,  despairing  wave  of  self-depreciation  came  over 
me.  I  looked  at  myself  in  imagination,  — my  great  hulk- 
ing frame,  my  tanned  skin,  my  bearded  face,  my  long, 
unkempt  hair.  Oh,  William  Morgan,  what  a  poor  fool 
you  are  to  fall  in  love  with  this  fair  vision  of  beauty, 
this  domestic  goddess,  this  Hebe,  this  sum  of  grace  and 
loveliness.  And  then  a  tender  desire  welled  up  and 
filled  my  heart  to  love  and  cherish  and  protect  this 
helpless  waif  that  had  floated  in  to  me  from  the  wild 
sea. 

After  a  little  I  plucked  a  spray  of  orchids  that  hung 
from  a  half-rotten  limb,  —  one  of  those  strange,  rare 
flowers  that  seem  rather  the  dreamy  vagary  of  a  flower 
painter  than  a  natural  production.  They  were  white, 
but  beautifully  marked  with  spots  of  rich  purple  and 
ribs  of  golden  yellow.  This  spray  I  carried  to  the 
house,  and  gave  it  to  her.  Such  an  act  could  have  no 
particular  significance,  but  to  my  distempered  fancy  it 
seemed  a  homage  paid,  a  tribute  given,  a  declaration  of 
fealty. 

At  the  breakfast  table  I  broached  the  subject  of  the 


I5O  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

galleon,  and  stated  that  I  had  almost  determined  to 
remain  upon  the  island  and  to  undertake  the  recovery 
of  the  treasure  by  aid  of  such  apparatus  as  could  be 
made  here,  provided  they  were  willing  to  delay  their 
departure  a  sufficient  time.  The  truth  was  that  since 
the  last  hour  my  mind  was  fully  made  up  to  stay  if 
possible,  and  the  presence  of  Alice  Millward  was  doubt- 
less a  moving  cause  for  that  determination.  I  felt  very 
anxious  that  they  should  both  fall  in  with  my  plan. 

"  I  think,"  said  I  to  the  old  man,  "  that  if  you  go  on 
improving  as  you  have  done,  you  will  soon  be  able 
yourself  to  give  me  the  aid  I  need.  And  remember,  in 
that  case  there  will  probably  be  treasure  enough  for  all. 
In  the  mean  time,  while  you  are  getting  well  your 
daughter  and  I  can  be  making  preparations  for  the 
work.  There  is  a  great  deal  to  be  done.  Now  what 
do  you  say?  " 

"  But  let  me  know  exactly  your  plan  of  work,"  replied 
he,  "  in  order  that  I  may  be  better  able  to  judge  of  its 
feasibility." 

Thereupon  I  detailed  my  proposed  scheme,  so  far  as 
it  was  formulated  in  my  mind,  confessing  that  I  had  as 
yet  thought  of  no  practical  method  of  making  an  air- 
pump.  "  Still,"  said  I,  "  there  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind 
that  some  method  of  supplying  that  deficiency  will 
occur  to  me." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Morgan,  let  me  think  this  over  for  a  little 
while.  There  is  no  hurry  required  of  me  in  making  up 
my  mind,  for  I  should  not  like  to  leave  the  island  for  a 
week  or  so  anyhow.  Give  me,  say  three  days ;  but 
during  this  time  there  is  no  reason  why  you  should  be 
idle.  If  in  the  mean  time  some  practicable  method  of 
completing  the  apparatus  should  occur  to  you  I  am 
free  to  say  that  fact  would  have  great  weight  in  deter- 
mining my  course  of  action." 


THE  PROBLEM.  151 

After  breakfast  we  all  went  out  on  the  porch  and  sat 
down,  Duke  lying  in  the  sun  at  the  old  man's  feet. 
We  discussed  at  great  length  the  whole  art  and  mystery 
of  wrecking  and  diving,  and  the  apparatus  for  such 
work. 

In  this  discussion  Alice  Millward  took  an  active  part. 
She  seemed  so  anxious  to  learn  and  know  all  about  it 
that  I  went  over,  for  her  benefit,  all  the  book  knowl- 
edge I  had  pertaining  to  the  subject.  While  this  was 
not  very  extensive,  the  brief  descriptions  of  apparatus 
familiar  to  me  helped  us  all  wonderfully  to  get  a  clearer 
idea  of  the  problem  before  us.  There  was  one  method 
of  raising  sunken  vessels  about  which  I  had  read  some- 
when  that  was  specially  interesting  and  suggestive. 
This  method  is  to  attach  to  the  hull  barges  partly  filled 
with  water,  and  pump  the  water  out  of  the  barges  little 
by  little,  until  by  reason  of  their  rise  in  the  water  the 
hull  is  lifted  clear  of  the  ground.  Then  barges  and  hull 
are  towed  into  shallower  water  and  the  operation  is  re- 
peated until  finally  the  shore  is  reached.  But  this 
operation  would  require  diving-apparatus  for  attaching 
the  hawsers  or  ropes  to  the  sunken  hulk,  and  it  brought 
us,  therefore,  no  nearer  a  complete  solution  of  the 
problem. 

The  talk  was  interesting  and  animated,  and  was  kept 
up  until  the  old  man  gave  signs  of  weariness.  Finally, 
in  the  midst  of  a  discussion  as  to  the  best  method  of 
making  an  air-tube,  he  dropped  to  sleep.  The  practi- 
cal benefit  which  I  derived  from  this  conversation  was 
the  familiarity  obtained  by  holding  up  before  the  mind 
all  the  conditions  and  necessities  of  the  problem,  in  the 
effort  to  make  others  understand  these  requirements. 
It  is  by  steady  and  continuous  thought  that  all  prob- 
lems are  solved,  and  the  first  requisite  of  every  solution 
is  this  very  faculty  of  holding  all  the  conditions  without 


THE  SPANISH  GALLEON, 

effort  simultaneously  in  the  mind.  By  continued  effort 
mental  process  becomes  finally  so  far  a  matter  of 
mere  habit,  in  any  particular  case,  that  the  mind  is  left 
wholly  free  to  act.  It  is  a  familiar  saying  with  regard 
to  mathematics,  that  a  problem  clearly  stated  is  already 
half  solved.  This  is  true  with  regard  to  everything 
depending  upon  human  thought.  But  problems  are 
not  solved  by  a  mere  effort  of  the  will.  The  mind  of 
man  does  not  so  operate.  One  must  jostle  various 
thoughts  about  in  the  brain,  until  finally  by  an  uncon- 
scious process  of  selection  the  fitting  thought  is  found, 
and  its  fitness  perceived.  One  thing  suggests  another 
and  that  a  third,  link  by  link  in  a  continuous  chain, 
until  the  mind  finally  sees  in  the  procession  the  needed 
thing,  and  immediately  seizing  upon  it  ignores  all 
else. 

I  wanted  to  be  alone  that  I  might,  by  revolving  the 
riddle  over  and  over,  finally  seize  the  key  and  un- 
lock it. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    ABANDONED   PLANTATION. 

/"CALLING  Duke  I  took  my  lasso  and  the  axe,  and 
\_s  started  out  for  a  long  tramp  to  the  woods,  where 
I  might  think  undisturbed. 

That  the  walk  might  not  be  wholly  aimless,  I  decided 
to  go  up  the  beach  to  the  north  a  little  way,  and  then 
strike  over  to  that  part  of  the  creek  which  ran  down 
parallel  with  the  beach  and  follow  it  up  to  its  head- 
waters. Poor  Duke  thought  this  was  a  hunting  expedi- 
tion pure  and  simple.  His  delight  was  extravagant  to 
witness.  For  each  foot  I  travelled  he  went  at  least 
six.  Forward  and  back,  ranging  to  and  fro  into  every 
nook  and  corner,  with  his  sensitive  nose  investigat- 
ing everything,  he  made  the  most  of  his  holiday. 
The  gulls  were  out  as  usual,  but  Duke  ignored  them 
completely.  He  had  already  learned  that  this  fowl  was 
not  game,  and  as  he  measured  all  things  by  that  single 
standard,  these  birds  had  sunk  to  a  point  in  his  estima- 
tion that  was  beneath  the  contempt  of  a  well-bred  dog. 
We  routed  up  an  armadillo  just  after  we  crossed  the 
creek,  and  captured  it.  Being  so  near  home,  I  carried 
it  back  and  instructed  Miss  Alice  how  to  bake  it  in  the 
oven,  in  the  afternoon,  for  supper,  and  filled  the  oven 
with  wood  for  her  to  light  at  the  proper  time.  Then 
telling  her  I  might  not  return  much  before  nightfall,  I 
started  anew. 


154  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

After  we  had  crossed  the  creek  again  and  had  walked 
about  a  mile,  we  came  on  about  a  half-dozen  pigs  on 
the  beach,  most  probably  varying  their  diet  with  a  few 
clams.  When  they  saw  us  the  little  herd  dashed  across 
the  sands  and  into  the  tangled  jungle.  Following 
them  I  found  they  had  here  a  beaten  path,  which 
showed  that  this  was  one  of  their  regular  run-ways. 
I  conjectured  that  this  path  would  lead  to  the  stream 
at  some  point,  and  so  took  advantage  of  it.  In  and  out 
it  went,  well  defined,  through  the  thicket  and  the  jun- 
gle ;  here  through  dense  brakes  of  fern,  there  under 
great  trees,  until  finally  the  stream  was  reached  at  a 
point  higher  up  than  I  had  ever  before  ascended.  All 
about  were  great  numbers  of  calabash  trees  full  of 
gourds,  literally  thousands  of  them  in  all  stages  of 
growth,  some  fallen  to  the  ground  from  over-ripeness. 
The  inhabitants  of  this  island  need  never  want  for  such 
utensils  as  could  be  made  of  this  vegetable  product. 
What  greatly  surprised  me  was  the  size  of  the  stream  at 
this  point.  It  had  not  seemingly  diminished  either  in 
depth  or  width,  though  I  had  naturally  expected  it 
would  be  considerably  less ;  for  we  were  over  three 
miles  by  its  winding  course  from  the  mouth. 

The  path,  without  the  aid  of  which  I  could  not  have 
penetrated  the  dense  growth,  led  along  the  bank  of  the 
stream  close  to  the  water.  About  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
further  on  the  course  of  the  stream  changed,  coming 
around  a  bend  from  the  west,  straight  from  the  cliffs. 
I  pressed  on  and  soon  found  myself  in  a  deep,  narrow 
gorge,  the  path  still  running  alongside  the  stream  on  a 
narrow  margin  of  rocky  shore,  the  cliff  towering  straight 
up  on  either  hand.  On  the  top  of  the  rocks,  at  the 
level  of  the  central  plateau,  was  a  dense  forest,  the  trees 
of  which,  growing  close  to  the  gorge  at  each  side,  in- 
terlaced in  a  mass  of  foliage  above,  at  times  shutting  out 


THE  ABANDONED  PLANTATION.  155 

the  sky.  I  followed  the  stream  along  the  path  entirely 
through  the  central  plateau,  and  came  out  on  the  other 
side  in  what  I  have  before  spoken  of  as  the  north 
valley. 

I  was  now  in  a  bowl-shaped  depression,  walled  in  on 
the  east  by  the  cliffs  of  the  central  plateau,  through 
which  I  had  just  come  by  way  of  the  stream-cut  gorge ; 
on  the  west  by  the  western  rise  or  ridge  which  formed 
the  shore  cliffs,  and  which  circled  around  to  the  north ; 
and  on  the  south  by  the  connecting  ridge  between  the 
plateau  and  the  cliffs.  The  stream  wound  away  in  lazy 
curves  through  the  flat  bottom,  and  its  head-waters 
seemed  as  far  away  as  ever.  To  the  right  hand  the 
sunlit  gleam  of  water  caught  my  eye  at  a  distance,  and 
I  passed  through  the  bushes  until  I  discovered  a  nar- 
row cleft  in  the  rocks  to  the  northwest,  through  which 
came  a  glimpse  of  the  distant  sea.  There  was  a  park- 
like  appearance  to  some  portion  of  this  enclosure  that 
was  delightful.  Across  the  middle,  east  and  west,  ran 
a  little  knoll,  which  formed  the  water-shed.  All  the 
water  which  fed  the  stream  evidently  came  from  the 
drainage  of  the  valley  south  of  this  knoll.  What  water 
drained  from  the  north  slope  probably  had  to  find  its 
way  to  the  sea  through  the  distant  cleft. 

I  followed  the  stream  until  the  path  at  its  edge  faded 
away  to  nothing,  and  then  turned  off  toward  the  centre 
of  the  valley  through  the  open  grassy  glades  which  were 
interspersed  among  the  beautiful  groves  and  clumps  of 
trees.  Very  soon  I  came  upon  decided  evidence  of  the 
hand  of  man.  An  old  orange  grove  was  here,  planted 
regularly  in  rows ;  the  trees  broad  and  spreading,  and  at 
least  fifty  years  old,  were  loaded  with  the  golden,  russet- 
tinted  globes.  The  fruit  was  sweet  and  delicious.  One 
variety,  a  tree  with  gnarled  branches  and  mossy  trunk, 
bore  literally  thousands  of  the  small,  yellow  mandarin 


156  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

oranges,  with  a  skin  loose  and  thin  as  paper.  Here  too 
were  rows  of  red-berried  coffee-trees,  thorny  limes,  and 
low-growing  lemons,  with  here  and  there  a  dark-leafed 
grape-fruit.  The  whole  plantation  was  more  or  less 
choked  with  weeds  and  undergrowth,  clearly  indicating 
abandonment,  perhaps  for  years. 

Near  by  were  the  great  banner-like  leaves  of  the 
banana  and  plantain,  in  abundance.  This  was  a  most 
valuable  find,  and  it  removed  from  my  mind  all  fear  of 
lack  of  food.  Man  can  live  almost  upon  the  plantain 
alone.  And  it  has  been  said  that  this  valuable  fruit 
furnishes  food  to  more  millions  than  any  other  vege- 
table product,  not  even  excepting  rice.  Pushing  on 
through  the  luxuriant  growth  that  cumbered  the  earth, 
I  came  out  finally  into  a  little  clearing  on  the  top  of 
the  rise  and  found  before  me  several  low  buildings. 
The  weeds  that  grew  all  about,  choking  the  paths  and 
overflowing  in  all  directions,  too  plainly  told  the  tale  of 
long  desertion  and  abandonment.  There  was  a  prin- 
cipal dwelling-house  of  a  single  story,  built  of  adobes, 
with  a  wide  veranda ;  also  three  smaller  houses  at  a 
little  distance,  —  servants'  quarters  probably ;  a  large, 
low  shed  about  which  were  scattered  great  heaps  of  old 
bagasse,  or  crushed  sugar-cane,  which  indicated  a  sugar 
plantation ;  a  tobacco-curing  shed,  in  which  still  hung 
some  shreds  and  fragments  of  withered  tobacco  ;  and 
other  outhouses.  There  was  an  air  of  desolation  about 
the  place  that  was  most  depressing,  as  I  stood  waist-deep 
among  the  thrifty  growth  of  weeds  in  the  clear,  hot 
sunshine,  looking  in  astonishment  at  the  scene. 

I  opened  the  front  door  and  went  into  the  house. 
All  was  vacancy  and  desolation,  —  dust,  cobwebs,  stains 
of  water  that  had  leaked  in  and  pooled  in  spots  upon 
the  floor,  dead  flies,  bugs,  and  spiders.  There  was  a 
broken  window-pane  in  one  room,  and  through  the 


THE  ABANDONED  PLANTATION.  157 

small  opening  thus  made  had  entered  a  great  litter  of 
dead  leaves,  which  lay  strewn  about,  indicating  by  their 
number  the  considerable  time  that  must  have  elapsed 
while  one  by  one  they  chanced  to  blow  through  the 
narrow  opening.  I  was  glad  to  get  out  again  into  the 
open  air. 

Here  had  been  at  one  time  a  considerable  plantation. 
Hundreds  of  acres  had  doubtless  been  under  cultiva- 
tion, and  the  busy  sounds  of  life  had  been  heard  where 
now,  save  for  the  mournful  complaint  of  a  dove  cooing 
from  the  orange  grove  for  its  mate,  all  was  still. 

That  this  plantation  should  have  been  unknown  to 
me  all  this  time  seemed  surprising  to  me  at  the  mo- 
ment. But  in  truth,  had  I  not  followed  up  the  course 
of  the  creek,  it  is  quite  probable  I  never  should  have 
discovered  it ;  for  all  about  on  every  hand  were  rocky 
walls  and  dense  foliage,  both  hiding  it  from  view  and 
rendering  it  difficult  of  access.  There  were  really  but 
two  roads  to  this  place  from  the  outer  world,  one  by 
the  way  I  had  just  come,  and  the  other  by  way  of  the 
sea  through  the  distant  cleft  above  spoken  of. 

Traces  of  a  broad  road  led  from  the  buildings  toward 
this  cleft,  and  I  followed  it  down  past  the  remains  of 
sugar,  corn,  and  tobacco  fields,  until  I  stood  on  the 
margin  of  a  deep,  rock-walled  cove,  open  on  one  side 
to  the  valley,  where  was  a  rude  landing-pier,  and  on 
the  other  by  a  narrow  gate  or  passage  to  the  sea.  This 
was  the  harbor  and  port  of  the  old  plantation.  The 
cove,  though  so  small,  would  have  floated  a  man-of-war, 
and  was  almost  land-locked,  the  narrow  entrance  not 
being  above  thirty  feet  in  width  at  the  water  level. 

I  remembered  that  when  I  made  the  circuit  of  the 
island  on  foot  I  waded  across  the  mouth  of  this 
cove  at  low  water.  There  must  therefore  be  a  bar, 
with  barely  water  enough  at  low  tide  to  get  a  boat  over ; 


158  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON, 

but  at  high  tide  there  would  probably  be  twelve  or  fif- 
teen feet.  That  I  did  not  see  the  wooden  pier  at  that 
time  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  cove  took  a  bend 
to  the  left  after  entering  from  the  sea.  Had  the 
rocks  been  less  abrupt,  I  should  doubtless  have  turned 
in  at  that  time  and  endeavored  to  cross  the  island 
here  instead  of  going  a  mile  farther  north,  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  valley. 

I  wandered  over  the  abandoned  plantation  in  all 
directions  for  several  hours,  but  found  nothing  of  spe- 
cial interest  except  a  flock  of  half-wild  domestic  chick- 
ens, descendants  doubtless  of  some  left  by  the  former 
residents  here.  I  gathered  a  dozen  leaves  of  tobacco, 
thinking  that  Mr.  Millward  might  like  to  have  a  cigar. 
After  eating  the  frugal  lunch  I  had  brought,  supple- 
mented with  some  fruit,  I  sat  down  under  an  orange-tree 
and  rolled  me  a  cigar  of  some  of  the  dried  leaf,  which  I 
lighted  with  the  burning-glass,  and  proceeded  to  enjoy 
a  quiet  smoke  of  the  fragrant  tobacco.  While  I  sat 
thus  slowly  and  placidly  cogitating  over  the  means  of 
reaching  the  treasure,  and  varying  that  line  of  thought 
from  time  to  time  with  speculations  as  to  the  former 
inhabitants  of  the  island,  suddenly  the  whole  plan  which 
had  been  floating  unformed  in  my  mind  took  concrete 
shape,  apparently  of  its  own  accord  and  without  effort. 
The  riddle  was  read  and  the  problem  was  solved. 

The  day  had  worn  away,  and  the  afternoon  was  half 
over  when  I  concluded  it  was  high  time  to  be  gone. 
So  I  got  me  a  great  banana-leaf,  gathered  a  goodly  lot 
of  fruit,  taking  samples  of  all,  including  some  of  the  cof- 
fee-berries, and  tying  the  whole  securely  in  a  bundle  with 
the  banana-leaf  and  some  bark  strips,  started  for  home, 
which  I  safely  reached  an  hour  before  sunset. 

As  I  came  in  sight  of  the  house  I  saw  standing 
poised  on  a  rock  near  the  creek  the  graceful  figure  of 


THE  ABANDONED  PLANTATION.          159 

Alice  Millward,  evidently  on  the  lookout  up  the  beach 
to  see  if  the  wanderers  were  coming.  I  waved  my 
hand,  and  she  at  once  jumped  down  and  began  to  put 
the  supper  in  readiness.  And  when  I  reached  the 
house  I  found  the  table  all  spread  beneath  the  porch, 
and  the  hot  baked  armadillo  smoking  on  the  board. 
I  untied  my  great  bundle  and  spread  out  before  them 
the  supply  of  oranges,  lemons,  plantains,  bananas,  etc., 
in  a  tempting  heap. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Millward  caught  sight  of  the  red  ber- 
ries, he  cried,  "  Ah,  delightful !  you  have  found  coffee  ! 
That  was  the  chief  thing  your  island  lacked,  friend 
Morgan.  Now  we  can  have  our  morning  cup  of  coffee. 
But  where  did  you  find  all  this  ?  " 

"  Come,  father,  let  us  have  our  supper,  while  it  is 
hot,"  interrupted  Alice  Millward,  "  and  the  fruit  will 
be  a  dessert  for  us.  And  I  am  sure  while  we  are  at 
table  Mr.  Morgan  will  tell  us  his  adventures,  and  where 
he  has  been  to-day." 

This  was  too  plainly  desirable  on  all  hands  to  be 
gainsaid,  at  least  so  far  as  the  first  part  of  the  proposal 
was  concerned. 

Of  course  I  had  to  go  over  the  whole  ground  and 
describe  the  old,  abandoned  plantation  as  minutely  and 
completely  as  I  could,  and  to  answer  a  hundred  in- 
quiries about  it.  The  question  was  raised  whether  we 
had  better  not  go  there  to  live  while  we  remained  on 
the  island,  but  it  was  decided  that  for  the  present  we 
had  better  remain  where  we  were,  for  several  reasons ; 
one  reason  was  the  trouble  of  removal,  another  the  fact 
that  we  would  there  lose  the  refreshing  sea  breeze,  and 
there  were  others  quite  sufficient  to  determine  the  mat- 
ter in  favor  of  staying.  But  at  any  rate  we  would  as 
soon  as  possible  sail  around  in  the  boat  to  the  planta- 
tion cove  and  make  a  visit  to  the  plantation.  Specula- 


160  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

tion  was  indulged  in  as  to  who  had  lived  there,  and  when 
and  why  the  place  had  been  abandoned.  The  explana- 
tion offered  by  Mr.  Millward  was  quite  satisfactory. 
He  had  frequently  known  of  plantations  being  made 
on  the  outlying  islands,  and  stated  that  they  were  al- 
ways subsequently  abandoned  because  of  the  difficulty 
of  reaching  a  market  for  the  products,  the  necessity  for 
frequent  voyages  in  the  sloops  and  small  vessels,  and 
also  the  difficulty  of  keeping  workmen  and  assistants 
long  in  such  places,  except  as  slaves. 

After  the  supper  was  over  I  rolled  a  dry  tobacco- 
leaf  into  a  couple  of  ungainly  cigars  and  handed  one 
to  the  old  man.  The  pleasure  he  expressed  at  this 
simple  offering  was  quite  extravagant. 

"  Indeed,  young  man,  you  have  made  here  a  wonder- 
ful find,  —  quite  equal  in  every  respect  to  the  coffee. 
This  is  the  true  solace  and  comfort  of  the  contemplative 
man.  I  thank  you  most  sincerely." 

But  he  would  not  light  the  cigar;  he  had  other 
views  of  the  proper  use  to  make  of  it.  Drawing  from 
his  coat  pocket  a  venerable  brown  pipe,  he  proceeded 
to  break  up  my  cigar  and  fill  the  bowl  with  the 
fragments. 

"  Now,"  said  he  when  he  had  finished,  "  if  you  will 
give  me  a  light  I  will  warm  the  heart  of  this  old 
companion,  and  my  own  at  the  same  time." 

"  Mr.  Millward,"  said  I,  after  we  had  the  smoking 
fairly  started,  "  I  have  found  the  way  to  the  treasure  in 
the  sunken  galleon." 

"  Ah,  then  you  have  hit  upon  a  plan  of  making  the 
air-pump.  Well,  I  am  in  a  mood  just  now  to  believe 
you  can  do  it.  Pray  let  us  know  about  it." 

"  No,  sir,  I  have  not  found  any  way  to  build  an  air- 
pump.  But  I  have  found,  I  think,  that  we  shall  not 
need  one." 


THE  ABANDONED  PLANTATION.  l6l 

"  But  how  can  you  get  air  to  breathe  under  water 
unless  it  is  pumped  to  you?"  said  Miss  Alice. 

"  I  do  not  expect  to  go  under  water,"  said  I  in  reply. 
And  continuing,  "  I  am  inclined  to  enjoy  your  perplex- 
ity a  little,  for  perplexity  is  what  I  have  been  enduring 
myself  until  a  very  simple  idea  occurred  to  me  this 
very  afternoon.  But  it  is  not  fair  to  expect  you  will 
understand  without  explanation  in  a  moment  what  an- 
other could  not  understand  for  months.  The  simple 
fact  is  this  :  if  I  cannot  go  under  water  to  the  ship, 
why  should  I  not  bring  the  ship  out  of  water  to  me  ? 
It  is  the  old  case,  you  see,  of  the  mountain  and 
Mahomet." 

"  Yes,  I  see  it  is,"  said  the  old  man,  —  "  with  this 
difference,  that  you  propose  to  have  the  mountain  come 
to  Mahomet." 

Thereupon  I  laid  my  whole  plan  before  them,  which 
was  briefly  this :  to  attach  to  the  hulk,  one  at  a  time, 
sinking  them  under  water,  enough  empty  calabashes  to 
raise  it  and  float  it  gradually  in  to  shore,  where  at  low 
tide  it  would  be  above  water.  The  mechanical  princi- 
ple was  the  common  one  belonging  to  every  device 
which  converts  speed  into  power ;  as,  for  example,  the 
lever,  the  screw,  or  the  inclined  plane.  Little  by  little 
with  slight  exertion  of  power  each  calabash  or  gourd 
could  be  pulled  down  under  water  to  the  wreck,  and 
would  continue  thereafter  to  lift  as  many  pounds  as 
were  required  to  pull  it  down.  When  this  lifting  power 
was  multiplied  by  enough  of  the  calabashes,  the  wreck 
would  surely  be  raised.  It  was,  after  all,  only  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  method  of  raising  hulks  by  sinking  and 
attaching  barges  partly  full  of  water  and  then  pumping 
the  water  out  and  causing  them  to  rise  and  lift  the 
wreck.  In  that  case  the  slow  application  of  the  power 
was  accomplished  by  pumping.  In  the  proposed 


1 62  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

method  it  consisted  in  pulling  down  the  calabashes  one 
at  a  time. 

Mr.  Millward  likened  the  operation  to  the  lifting  of 
an  entire  building  by  the  hod  carrier  who  carried  a  few 
bricks  at  a  load  up  the  ladder. 

"  But  how  will  you  attach  your  numerous  calabashes 
to  the  hull?"  said  the  old  man  after  a  little  thought. 
"It  will  take  a  great  number." 

"That  I  will  explain  to  you  in  detail,"  said  I,  and 
thereupon  set  forth  minutely  the  entire  plan  of  opera- 
tion. The  explanation  was  satisfactory  to  his  mind. 
He  at  once  said  to  me  that  he  thought  the  thing 
feasible,  and  was  satisfied  that  it  would  probably 
succeed. 

What  those  minute  details  were  and  how  success- 
fully they  were  carried  out  will  appear  when  we  come 
to  the  account  of  the  attempt  which  was  subsequently 
made. 

"  Now,"  said  I,  "  we  have  a  great  quantity  of  rope 
to  make,  some  hawsers,  and  a  huge  supply  of  small 
rope  and  cord.  To  do  this  will  take  a  long  time,  and 
I  have  a  notion  that  some  sort  of  a  spinning  or  twisting 
machine  will  be  necessary.  We  must  establish  a  regular 
rope-walk  here  in  a  small  way." 

This  immediately  led  to  a  long  discussion  and  a 
consideration  of  rope-making  machinery  in  general,  at 
the  conclusion  of  which  I  thought  I  could  see  a  way  of 
making  a  sort  of  spinning-machine  for  twisting  rope- 
yarn  out  of  the  cocoa  husks,  and  also  a  reel  for  laying 
such  strands  up  into  rope.  Having  worked  out  the 
plan  in  my  own  mind  I  resolved  to  set  about  it  at  once. 
Mr.  Millward  had  given  his  hearty  assent  to  remain  on 
the  island  long  enough  to  make  a  full  effort  to  recover 
the  treasure,  and  I  began  new  to  look  forward  to  a 
successful  completion  of  my  task. 


THE  ABANDONED  PLANTATION.  163 

The  full  moon  that  evening  was  shining  over  the 
calm  sea  out  of  a  clear  sky  with  a  pure  silvery  radiance, 
and  a  cool,  gentle  breath  of  air,  scarcely  enough  to 
ripple  the  surface  of  the  sea,  fanned  our  faces  as  we 
three  sat  looking  out  upon  the  water  from  under  the 
little  porch.  It  was  a  lovely  night,  almost  too  beautiful 
to  put  to  such  commonplace  use  as  sleep.  In  a  little 
while  Mr.  Millward  asked  me  to  push  his  couch  into 
the  house,  as  he  thought  he  would  retire.  After  that 
Alice  Millward  and  I  sat  for  an  hour  longer,  enjoying 
the  moonlight  and  talking  low  so  as  not  to  disturb 
him. 

She  told  me  much  about  the  wandering  life  she  and 
her  father  had  led ;  of  the  many  kind  and  thoughtful 
acts  of  the  poor  benighted  laborers  who  formed  his 
audiences ;  of  her  own  efforts  to  learn  Hindostanee 
that  she  might  help  him  in  his  work ;  of  the  hardships 
and  sorrows  of  these  people,  and  of  the  strange  char- 
acteristics of  the  various  races,  Hindoo,  Chinese,  and 
negro  that  made  up  the  heterogenous  mass  to  which 
her  dear  father  had  undertaken  to  teach  the  word  of 
God. 

"  How  do  you  like  the  idea,  Miss  Millward,"  said  I, 
"of  staying  several  months  longer  on  the  island?" 

"  I  am  delighted,"  answered  she.  "  It  is  pleasant  to 
see  my  father  improving  so  rapidly ;  and  the  days  pass 
quickly  with  the  work  we  have  to  do.  You  know  I 
like  such  housework,  and  have  never  had  much  chance 
to  do  it.  Now  here  I  am  in  sole  charge  of  all  the 
housekeeping  arrangements,  nobody  to  say  I  must  not 
do  this,  or  must  do  that.  I  feel  quite  as  though  I  were 
empress,  with  none  to  dispute  my  sway.  Ought  I  not 
to  be  contented?" 

"  I  am  very  glad  you  are  contented,"  said  I,  "  and 
hope  you  may  continue  so.  For  I  want  to  see  you 


1 64  THE  SPANISH   GALLEON. 

happy.  Indeed,  Miss  Millward,"  I  continued,  with  a 
slight  tremor  in  my  voice  in  spite  of  myself,  "  having 
done  myself  the  honor  to  save  you  from  the  sea,  I  feel 
somehow  responsible  for  your  comfort  and  welfare,  at 
least,  I  mean,  while  you  remain  on  this  island,  and  until 
you  and  your  father  reach  civilization  and  your  friends 
again.  And  even  then  I  shall  —  I  shall  not  like  entirely 
to  lose  sight  of  you.  It  gives  me  pain  to  think  that 
our  ways  may  then  perhaps  lie  far  apart  from  each 
other." 

Now  there  was  a  twang  of  maudlin  sentimentality 
in  this,  which  I  recognized  as  I  spoke  the  words, 
and  this  was  magnified  and  intensified  by  the  moon- 
light, and  the  trembling  voice,  so  that  I  felt  somehow 
as  though  I  wanted  to  knock  my  head  against  some- 
thing hard.  I  somehow  felt  too  that  she  ought  in  all 
consistency  to  laugh  at  me.  But  she  did  not  laugh. 
And  though  I  could  see  her  clear-cut  beautiful  profile 
in  the  moonlight,  there  was  no  sign  of  even  a  smile 
upon  it.  God  bless  me  !  how  wonderfully  pure  and 
sweet  she  did  look  that  night. 

After  a  short  silence  I  added,  "  I  hope  after  we  leave 
the  island  we  shall  not  become  wholly  strangers,  you 
and  I  and  your  father." 

"Why,  Mr.  Morgan,"  said  she,  smiling  now,  and 
turning  her  candid  eyes  to  me,  "  I  thought  we  had  just 
decided  not  to  leave  the  island  for  some  months.  I 
am  very  sure  that  we,  —  my  father  and  I  and  you  can 
never  become  strangers.  We  must  always  be  the  best 
of  friends  whatever  happens.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  for- 
get a  good  friend  as  you  seem  to  imagine.  And  you 
have  surely  been  one  to  us,  —  and  especially  to  my  poor 
father  in  his  helplessness.  But  the  dew  is  falling  fast, 
and  I  must  now  go  in.  Good  night,  my  friend,  my 
good  friend." 


THE  ABANDONED  PLANTATION.  1 65 

I  sat  long  after  that,  alone  in  the  moonlight,  with  the 
dew  sparkling  on  each  leaf  in  silvery  lustre,  thinking  of 
my  new  found  love,  and  hoping  and  despairing  by 
turns,  until  the  regular  and  peaceful  breathing  of  the 
old  man  reminded  me  that  I  was  uselessly  dissipating 
precious  hours  that  should  be  devoted  to  sleep. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

A   REMARKABLE   CURE. 

AS  the  weather  was  now  so  .fine,  I  thought  it  best  to 
begin  the  gathering  of  calabashes,  before  going 
regularly  to  the  work  of  rope-making.  I  should  need 
an  immense  quantity  of  these  gourds,  and  they  must  be 
as  dry  as  possible  and  perfectly  sound,  or  they  would 
be  unserviceable  for  my  purpose.  The  collection  and 
transportation  of  these  gourds  would  have  proved  an 
immense  task  but  for  a  happy  thought  which  occurred 
to  me  ;  that  was  to  make  the  stream  do  the  major  part 
of  the  labor.  With  this  view  I  drove  a  row  of  stakes 
across  the  creek  just  above  where  the  boats  were 
moored.  These  stakes  were  placed  close  enough  to- 
gether to  catch  every  gourd  that  floated  down  stream. 
After  this  precaution  was  taken  I  went  with  my  axe  to 
the  calabash  grove  and  began  the  work  of  gathering  the 
gourds,  throwing  them  into  the  water  of  the  stream. 
Soon  they  were  bobbing  along  down  stream  in  a  steady 
procession.  I  worked  faithfully  at  this  for  more  than 
half  a  day,  and  until  I  had  just  time  to  get  home  be- 
fore supper.  When  I  arrived  I  found  that  Alice  Mill- 
ward  had  been  busy  fishing  out  the  floating  gourds,  and 
had  a  huge  pile  on  the  sand,  and  that  the  creek  was 
still  literally  filled  with  them  for  several  rods  above 
the  row  of  detaining  stakes.  In  coming  home  I  had 
followed  down  the  stream,  wading,  with  a  pole  to  dis- 
lodge all  that  had  caught  on  the  way. 


A    REMARKABLE   CURE.  1 67 

Wet  and  tired  and  hungry  though  I  was,  I  went  im- 
mediately to  work  throwing  the  gourds  out  on  the 
bank  where  they  might  begin  drying  and  hardening, 
and  it  was  long  after  sunset  before  I  finished  this  disa- 
greeable labor.  I  was  very  glad  to  change  my  wet 
clothing  and  to  sit  down  to  the  cheerful  supper-table 
which  the  patient  Alice  had  kept  waiting  for  me. 

"  You  must  have  worked  very  steadily,  Mr.  Morgan," 
said  she ;  "  there  has  been  a  constant  stream  of  those 
great  calabashes  coming  down  all  the  afternoon." 

"I  see  that  you  also  were  not  idle,"  said  I.  "The 
great  heap  of  gourds  I  found  taken  out  must  have  kept 
you  pretty  busy." 

"  Oh,  indeed,  I  was  very  busy,  and  kept  the  creek 
clear  for  quite  a  while,"  said  she  ;  "  but  then  they  began 
to  arrive  like  a  marching  army,  and  soon  overwhelmed 
me.  I  suppose  you  have  enough  of  them  collected 
now,  have  you  not?  " 

"  No,  Miss  Millward,  perhaps  there  is  half  enough. 
I  shall  go  again  to-morrow." 

"  The  sight  of  that  immense  number  of  calabashes 
makes  me  better  able  to  realize  the  magnitude  of  the 
task  we  have  undertaken,"  remarked  the  old  gentleman, 
in  a  thoughtful  tone. 

"  But  that  should  not  trouble  us,"  I  said  ;  "we  have 
plenty  of  time  before  us,  and  a  little  done  every  day 
makes  a  great  deal.  Now  I  roughly  calculate  that  we 
must  have  a  pile  of  gourds  as  large  as  the  Spanish  gal- 
leon, if  you  can  imagine  it  lying  on  the  beach ;  for  the 
floating  capacity  of  these  round  gourds  in  a  heap  would 
not  represent,  owing  to  the  interstices  between  the 
individual  gourds,  more  than  half  that  of  a  single,  great 
gourd  of  the  size  of  the  heap.  Or  to  put  it  in  another 
way,  let  us  say  we  want  a  sufficient  number  of  gourds 
to  hold  half  the  air  that  the  galleon  would  hold  if  empty 


1 68  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

of  water.  Such  a  capacity  would  require,  I  imagine, 
a  pile  of  gourds  as  great  as  the  galleon.  At  any  rate 
we  will  offer  that  for  as  good  a  guess  as  we  are  able  now 
to  make.  I  suppose  we  might  estimate  the  cubical 
contents  of  the  galleon,  and  so  determine  mathemati- 
cally with  reasonable  accuracy  just  how  many  gourds 
would  do  the  work  of  lifting  it,  —  that  is  to  say,  of  equal- 
ling its  displacement  or  sufficiently  approaching  it.  But 
I  think  we  shall  be  near  enough  with  our  guess  without 
that  trouble. 

The  next  day,  starting  earlier,  I  finished  collecting 
the  gourds  by  noon,  and  had  them  all  out  of  the  creek 
before  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  As  the  wind  was 
light  and  favorable,  I  proposed  that  we  spend  the  re- 
mainder of  the  day  in  a  voyage  to  the  plantation,  stay 
there  all  night,  and  return  in  the  morning.  This  was 
heartily  agreed  to,  and  we  speedily  loaded  the  few 
things  we  were  likely  to  need  on  board  the  "  Alice," 
including  an  armchair  and  Mr.  Millward's  couch. 
When  all  was  ready  for  the  embarkation  I  carried  him 
down  and  seated  him,  well  braced,  just  aft  of  the  centre- 
board. 

We  now  hoisted  sail  and  passed  out  over  the  bar.  As 
we  came  into  the  neighborhood  of  the  sunken  galleon 
it  was  just  three  o'clock  by  Mr.  Millward's  watch,  the 
sun  was  shining  brightly,  and  the  water  was  clear.  If  I 
could  pick  up  the  submerged  buoy  I  could  now  with  the 
water-glass  show  my  companions  the  wreck.  My  sight 
poles  on  shore  were  down,  and  I  could  only  guess  at 
the  locality.  However,  with  Miss  Millward  standing  on 
the  fore  deck  keeping  a  bright  lookout  for  the  bunch 
of  submerged  gourds,  I  cruised  about  as  near  as  I  could 
guess  to  the  neighborhood.  In  a  few  minutes  she 
caught  sight  of  them,  and  we  were  speedily  made  fast. 
We  hauled  up  directly  above  the  wreck  and  put  the 


A   REMARKABLE   CURE.  169 

glass  over  the  side ;  then  all,  including  Mr.  Millward, 
who  managed  to  do  so  by  our  joint  assistance,  took 
a  good  look  at  the  venerable  hulk. 

As  the  old  man  was  looking  I  explained  to  him, 
"  You  see,  Mr.  Millward,  the  ship's  forefoot  sticks  up 
a  little  clear  of  the  sand." 

"  Yes,  yes,  that  is  true." 

"  And  you  will  see  that  there  is  plenty  of  room  there 
to  drag  the  bight  of  a  hawser  well  under  the  keel." 

"  Yes,  I  see." 

"  Now  look  at  the  stern,  and  you  will  notice  that  it 
overhangs  very  much,  and  that  the  rudder  has  broken 
away  and  become  detached." 

"  Yes,  quite  true,"  said  the  old  man  ;  "  and  you  could 
easily  drag  the  bight  of  your  second  hawser  under  the 
projecting  stern." 

"  Exactly,"  I  replied ;  "  and  then  we  shall  have  the 
old  relic  swung  securely  from  two  points,  and  come  up 
she  must  if  only  her  old  ribs  and  bones  are  strong 
enough  to  stand  the  strain.  She  must  float  or  break  in 
two." 

"  Mr.  Morgan,  we  must  and  will  succeed,"  said  the 
old  man,  excitedly.  "That  craft  is  to  all  appearance 
sound  and  strong.  I  have  heard  that  wood  when  under 
water  completely  does  not  decay  as  when  exposed  to 
the  air.  We  shall  find  her  still  strong  enough  to  be 
raised." 

"  I  trust  so  and  believe  so,"  I  replied. 

When  the  fair  Alice  came  to  look  at  the  wonders  of 
the  deep  through  the  glass  her  delight  was  extravagant. 

"  Why,"  she  cried,  "  I  can  see  the  old  cannon  all 
covered  with  sea-weed.  And  what  a  strange,  old-fash- 
ioned ship  !  Two  cabins  built  one  on  top  of  the  other, 
and  in  front  a  sort  of  house.  I  can  even  see  the  door- 
way in  the  cabin,  and  the  funny  little  windows,  and  a 


I/O  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

fish  swimming  in  at  one  of  them  as  though  he  lived 
there.  Shells  are  growing  all  over  the  whole  vessel  like 
lichens  on  a  rock.  What  a  lovely,  horrible  sight !  " 

When  we  had  spent  an  hour  at  this  sight-seeing  we 
cast  off  from  the  buoy  and  made  sail  for  Plantation 
Cove,  and  very  soon  came  abreast  of  it.  From  the  sea, 
except  for  the  break  in  the  beach,  the  opening  into  the 
cove  was  scarcely  distinguishable  in  the  wall  of  the  cliff, 
which  here  came  out  in  a  sort  of  cape  or  headland. 
Just  in  this  headland  was  the  cleft.  I  wore  round  and 
ran  straight  in  for  the  mouth  of  the  cove,  and  found 
water  enough  easily  to  cross  the  bar.  We  glided  swiftly 
through  the  rocky  gate  with  the  momentum,  and  floated 
out  on  the  deep,  quiet  waters  of  the  cove,  the  breeze 
being  entirely  cut  off  by  the  cliff,  except  a  faint,  uncer- 
tain gust  now  and  then,  which  found  its  way  in  as  a 
draught  will  sometimes  blow  down  a  chimney.  There 
was  just  enough  motion  to  carry  us  alongside  the  pier, 
which  now  at  low  tide  stood  high  above  us,  so  high  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  get  Mr.  Millward  on  shore  by 
its  aid.  For  this  reason  I  pulled  the  boat  along  until 
her  nose  was  against  the  rocky  shore  at  the  side  of  the 
pier  and  made  her  temporarily  fast,  while  I  carried  Mr. 
Millward  on  shore,  and  landed  his  daughter.  I  then 
pulled  pack  to  a  place  where  a  rude  ladder  led  from 
the  pier  down  to  the  water,  and  moored  the  boat  se- 
curely, head  and  stern,  with  sufficient  line  so  that  she 
might  ride  safely  at  all  tides,  then  I  overhauled  the  sail 
we  had  brought  along  for  a  tent,  carried  it  ashore  and 
set  it  up,  built  a  rousing  fire,  and  gathered  a  quantity 
of  fern  for  bedding.  As  soon  as  the  fire  was  started 
Alice  set  about  warming  up  a  bean  porridge  for  supper, 
that  we  might  have  .it  early  enough  to  visit  the  planta- 
tion before  dark. 

We  hurried  through  the  supper,  and  then  leaving  Mr. 


A   REMARKABLE    CURE.  1 71 

Milhvard  comfortably  seated  in  the  armchair,  I  started 
with  Alice  for  a  little  walk  up  to  the  rising  ground  to 
show  her  a  view  of  the  orange  grove  and  plantation 
buildings  which  could  be  seen  from  this  side.  Along 
the  old  road,  a  great  part  of  which  was  overgrown  with 
weeds  and  straggling  volunteer  plants  from  the  various 
crops  that  had  formerly  been  cultivated  here :  Indian- 
corn,  tall,  tasselled  sugar-cane,  pink-blossomed  tobacco, 
with  great,  velvety  leaves  and  up-shooting  stalk,  an  occa- 
sional dried  cotton  plant  with  shreds  of  cotton  still  cling- 
ing to  the  brown  bolls,  yams  run  wild  and  growing  in  broad 
green  bands  of  fleshy  vine  across  the  path  in  tropical 
luxuriance,  —  these  and  countless  wild  weeds  and  plants 
not  only  filled  the  fields  but  trenched  upon  the  road. 

Before  we  reached  a  point  at  which  the  groves  and 
houses  could  well  be  seen  Miss  Millward  had  already 
gathered  a  great  armful  of  samples  to  carry  back  to  the 
tent  that  her  father  might  see  them.  We  went  along  up 
the  road  until  we  came  to  the  remains  of  a  gate,  —  two 
upright  stones  roughly  resembling  pillars,  and  having 
iron  hinge-pieces  let  into  one  of  them.  The  gate  itself 
had  been  thrown  down  at  one  side.  Here  we  were  in 
full  sight  of  all  the  buildings,  and  of  the  grove  of  fruit 
trees.  I  left  her  here  a  few  moments  while  I  waded 
through  the  weeds  to  gather  a  bunch  of  bananas,  some 
of  which  were  ripe  and  red.  As  I  came  back  I  saw  her 
beckon  to  me  to  hasten ;  and  I  ran  as  fast  as  I  could, 
until  I  reached  her  side. 

"  Listen,"  said  she,  "  I  thought  just  now  I  heard  a 
cry." 

We  listened  a  moment,  and  then  I  heard  distinctly, 
from  the  direction  of  the  cove,  her  father's  voice  as 
though  calling  for  help. 

"  It  is  father  calling  us,"  she  cried,  and  immediately 
began  running  down  the  road. 


1/2  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

I  threw  down  my  bunch  of  bananas  and  soon  passed 
her,  impeded  as  she  was  with  her  skirts  and  the  weeds. 
I  plunged  through  the  last  heavy  growth  of  weeds  and 
canes  that  separated  me  from  a  clear  view  of  the  tent, 
and  was  thunderstruck  to  behold  a  man  coming  toward 
us  from  that  direction.  At  first  I  thought  of  the  pearl- 
fishers,  and  feared  that  violence  had  perhaps  already 
been  done  to  the  helpless  Mr.  Millward,  whose  voice  we 
had  just  heard  calling  for  assistance.  My  first  impulse 
was  to  turn  back  and  stop  Miss  Millward,  whom  I  could 
hear  struggling  through  the  weeds  behind  me.  But  in 
a  moment  I  was  still  more  astonished  to  recognize  in 
the  approaching  figure  Mr.  Millward  himself !  I  do  not 
believe  I  should  have  been  more  surprised  to  have  seen 
a  dead  man  rise  and  walk.  I  had  never  seen  him,  you 
will  remember,  otherwise  than  helpless,  and  my  mind  was 
completely  habituated  so  to  regard  him.  Now  here  he 
was,  upright  and  walking  with  apparent  firmness  toward 
me.  I  was  inexpressibly  astonished,  and  for  the  mo- 
ment quite  speechless.  I  stood  there  with  open  mouth 
staring  at  him  when  Miss  Millward  came  panting 
through  the  weeds  to  my  side. 

"  Father  !  oh,  father  !  "  she  cried,  and  without  a  mo- 
ment's pause  hurried  on  as  fast  as  she  could  to  meet 
him.  Collecting  my  own  wits  I  speedily  followed  her. 
When  they  met  she  fell  upon  the  old  man's  breast  and 
began  to  sob  out,  "  Oh,  what  is  the  matter?  Oh,  why 
did  you  call  ?  " 

She  had  evidently  forgotten,  or  failed  to  comprehend 
for  the  moment,  that  there  was  anything  surprising  in 
the  fact  that  he  was  up  and  walking  about.  This  over- 
sight was  doubtless  due  to  the  fact  that,  unlike  myself, 
she  had  been  long  accustomed  to  see  him  walk,  and  the 
helpless  condition  was  the  one  she  was  least  accustomed 
to.  However,  without  endeavoring  to  analyze  our  rel- 


A   REMARKABLE    CURE.  173 

ative  feelings  of  surprise,  let  us  listen  to  the  curious  ac- 
count given  by  Mr.  Millward  of  his  sudden  recovery  of 
the  use  of  his  lower  limbs. 

"  After  you  had  left  me,"  he  said,  "  I  was  sitting 
comfortably  in  the  armchair  looking  at  you  until  you 
disappeared  among  the  vegetation.  Presently  I  be- 
came aware  that  a  little  breeze  had  risen  and  was  driv- 
ing the  smoke  of  the  fire  toward  me.  This  was  disa- 
greeable, but  as  it  could  not  be  helped  I  quietly  en- 
dured it,  thinking  it  would  not  be  for  long,  and  that  you 
would  be  back  soon.  But  very  soon  thereafter  I  found 
the  dry  fern  all  around  me  on  fire,  and  fearing  I  should 
roast  to  death  I  twice  called  as  loudly  as  I  could,  hop- 
ing you  would  hear  me  in  time.  The  flames,  however, 
came  very  fast,  my  chair  caught  fire,  my  hands  were 
slightly  scorched,  and  I  was  at  the  same  time  smother- 
ing with  the  smoke.  I  sprang  up  and  put  out  the  fire 
with  the  blanket  which  you  had  wrapped  around  my 
limbs.  Then  finding  I  could  walk,  I  started  to  meet 
you.  That  is  all.  God  in  his  merciful  providence  has 
restored  me." 

That  was  all.  But  it  was  quite  enough.  We  turned 
back  and  walked  together  to  the  tent.  I  could  not  get 
used  to  it.  That  this  man  whom  I  left  helpless  in  his 
chair  less  than  half  an  hour  before,  should  now  be  act- 
ually standing  firm  on  his  feet,  and  walking  about,  as 
though  nothing  had  been  the  matter  with  him,  was  en- 
tirely too  much  for  my  practical,  matter-of-fact  mind. 
Mr.  Millward  evidently  noticed  my  bewildered  air,  and 
laughing  said  :  "  Rest  easy,  Mr.  Morgan,  I  believe  this 
recovery  will  be  permanent.  The  excitement  of  the  sud- 
den danger  must  have  roused  my  torpid  nerves,  and  did 
suddenly  for  me  what  doubtless  would  have  taken  place 
a  few  weeks  later  in  a  slower  way.  Now  let  us  thank 
God  with  all  our  hearts  for  this  mercy." 


SPANISH  GALLEON. 

The  delight  of  the  daughter,  when  she  realized  the 
pleasant  truth  was  very  touching  indeed  j  she  wept, 
embraced  him,  and  patted  him  with  her  hands,  cooing 
and  sobbing  and  laughing  all  at  once,  while  the  old 
man  in  silence  passed  his  hand  gently  from  time  to  time 
over  her  beautiful  hair. 

From  the  scattered  embers  I  rebuilt  the  fire,  and 
after  the  sun  went  down,  we  all  three  sat  in  front  of  it 
talking  over  this  strange  occurrence.  Intervals  of  si- 
lence would  now  and  then  fall  upon  us  unbroken  for 
several  minutes.  It  was  very  hard  indeed  to  realize 
the  remarkable  change.  Perhaps  the  most  curious 
thing  was  the  effect  produced  upon  Duke.  The  dog 
eyed  Mr.  Millward  with  an  air  of  such  ludicrous  doubt, 
edging  away  from  him,  and  then  coming  back  wagging 
his  tail  to  be  patted,  that  we  could  not  refrain  from 
laughing  heartily  at  his  conduct.  He  resented  our 
merriment  with  a  sheepish,  tail-between-legs  air  that 
only  made  us  laugh  the  more. 

Leaving  the  father  and  daughter  to  sleep  in  the  tent, 
Duke  and  I  went  down  to  the  boat.  There,  gently 
rocked  by  the  incoming  tide,  I  slumbered  peacefully 
through  the  night  until  long  after  dawn,  and  was  then 
awakened  by  the  old  man's  hand  laid  gently  on  my 
shoulder.  It  was  time  for  breakfast,  which  we  made  of 
oranges  and  plantains,  the  latter  baked  in  the  hot  ashes. 
Mr.  Millward  had  already  been  clear  to  the  plantation 
buildings  and  returned  with  this  spoil.  He  was  still 
weak  and  feeble.  That  after  his  long  inactivity  his 
muscles  should  have  strength  enough  for  him  to  walk 
about  at  all,  was,  in  truth,  matter  of  surprise,  even  not 
considering  the  recent  paralysis.  The  possession  of  so 
much  physical  vigor  was  doubtless  due  to  the  continued 
and  regular  rubbing  and  massage  treatment  he  had 
received. 


A    REMARKABLE   CURE.  175 

It  was  thought  best,  now  that  we  were  here  with  the 
boat,  to  collect  and  take  back  with  us  as  much  as  we 
could  conveniently  carry  of  the  produce  of  the  groves 
and  plantations.  One  thing  Mr.  Millward  was  specially 
desirous  of  getting  was  a  good  supply  of  coffee-berries, 
which  we  might  cure  in  the  usual  manner  by  drying 
them  in  the  shade,  and  thus  finally  get  the  kernels  for 
use.  Oranges  would  also  keep  well ;  and  bananas  and 
plantains  would  ripen  even  better  in  the  bunch  hung  up 
at  home  than  upon  the  tree.  So,  too,  there  was 
needed  sweet-potatoes  and  yams,  and  a  good  supply 
of  tobacco  for  curing.  With  shovel  and  hoe  and  im- 
provised baskets  made  of  huge  plantain  leaves  we  went 
to  work,  digging  and  gathering  and  carrying,  —  Miss 
Alice  and  I  doing  the  chief  part  of  the  work,  while  Mr. 
Millward,  feeling  somewhat  feeble  and  exhausted,  was 
content  to  stroll  about  a  little  or  to  rest  in  the  shade. 
Wandering  about  among  the  outhouses  he  came  across 
a  setting  hen  on  a  nest  of  fifteen  eggs,  and  brought  in 
hen,  nest,  and  eggs  all  together,  the  devoted  bird  cour- 
ageously allowing  herself  to  be  captured  rather  than 
leave  the  nest.  This  prize  we  stowed  in  the  cuddy- 
hole  of  the  boat,  shutting  her  and  her  beloved  nest  in 
safety  together. 

I  found  an  old,  dilapidated  fanning-mill,  and  a  small 
grindstone  mounted  in  a  frame  with  a  crank  to  turn  it. 
Anything  of  this  sort  I  thought  might  be  useful  to  me 
in  contriving  my  rope  machinery ;  so  I  loaded  it  on 
the  boat. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  we  got  on  board, 
and  after  sculling  the  boat  out  over  the  bar  set  sail  for 
Home  Creek,  where  we  arrived  safely  about  five  o'clock. 
While  supper  was  being  made  ready  I  built  a  safe  coop 
for  the  old  hen,  with  sticks  driven  into  the  ground,  and  put 
her  with  her  nest  into  it,  giving  her  corn  and  a  gourd 


THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

of  water,  and  left  her  to  hatch  her  brood  if  she  chose. 
We  were  all  very  tired  that  night  and  went  early  to  bed. 

The  next  day  Mr.  Millward  and  I  went  to  work  to 
contrive  some  sort  of  device  for  spinning  the  cocoa- 
husk  fibre  into  rope-yarn.  The  old  fanning-mill  came 
very  handily  into  play  in  this  job.  The  fan  was  geared 
to  run  at  a  high  rate  of  speed,  and  by  disconnecting  the 
sieves  and  shakers  and  taking  off  the  fan  blades,  this 
final  piece  of  shafting  could  be  made  to  revolve  at  a 
rattling  gait  by  a  comparatively  slow  motion  of  the 
crank,  and  with  very  little  expenditure  of  force.  We 
turned  the  old  machine  up  on  one  end  and  mounted  it 
on  stilts  to  bring  the  final  or  fan  shaft  into  convenient 
position.  Then  on  the  end  of  the  fan  shaft  we  mounted 
the  spinning  device,  whittled  out  of  hard  wood  and 
pieces  of  cane.  This  consisted  primarily  of  a  spool 
about  a  foot  in  length  mounted  in  a  framework  so  that 
its  axis  would  be  at  right  angles  to  the  fan  shaft.  The 
revolution  of  the  fan  shaft  would  now  cause  the  spool  to 
revolve  with  an  end-over-end  movement ;  so  that  a 
piece  of  cord,  if  one  end  were  tied  or  wound  upon  the 
spool,  would  be  twisted.  The  next  thing  was  to  con- 
trive some  method  for  causing  the  spool  to  rotate  auto- 
matically on  its  own  axis  at  a  slower  rate,  so  as  to  wind 
up  the  cord  as  fast  as  it  was  twisted  by  the  other  motion 
of  the  spool  at  a  high  rate  of  speed. 

This  movement  cost  us  an  almost  indescribable 
amount  of  the  closest  and  hardest  thought.  To  com- 
plete the  machine  up  to  this  point  took  only  two  days. 
Then  we  stuck  fast  for  a  whole  week  debating  the 
matter  and  trying  contrivances  which  would  not  work, 
and  which,  when  they  came  to  trial  it  seemed  as  though 
we  should  have  known  would  not  work,  so  complete 
and  humiliating  was  their  failure.  Finally  we  changed 
the  whole  structure  by  mounting  the  spool  loosely  on 


A   REMARKABLE    CURE.  177 

the  end  of  the  fan  shaft  itself  with  its  axis  coincident 
with  the  axis  of  the  shaft,  fitting  the  spool  to  run.  by 
friction  on  the  shaft,  while  the  frame  which  led  the  yarn 
to  the  spool  was  rigidly  fixed  on  the  same  shaft.  Now 
the  rapid  motion  of  the  frame  would  do  the  twisting 
and  the  cord  would  wind  only  as  fast  as  it  was  freely 
fed,  the  spool  slipping  at  a  commensurate  rate  on  the 
shaft.  This  worked  all  right  with  a  piece  of  cord 
already  made ;  but  whether  it  would  make  the  yarn  out 
of  unformed  fibre  was  a  matter  to  be  determined  by 
trial.  This  trial  we  could  not  make  until  we  had  built 
a  feeding-table  on  which  to  pile  the  mass  of  fibre,  fitted 
with  a  tube  of  cane  to  guide  the  forming  yarn  to  the 
twister-frame.  When  this  was  done  the  machine  proved 
satisfactory  and  did  the  work  it  was  designed  to  do 
rapidly  and  well.  It  required  two  to  work  it,  —  one  to 
turn  the  crank  and  thus  furnish  the  power,  and  the 
other  to  feed  up  and  manipulate  the  fibre  so  that  it 
would  be  smoothly  and  properly  interwoven  with  the 
twisting  end  of  the  forming  filament. 

The  construction  of  this  rude  machine  took  us  ten 
days  of  hard  study  and  work.  But  when  it  was  done 
we  had  taken  a  long  step  in  advance.  When  we  learned 
it  would  work  we  celebrated  the  occasion  by  twisting  a 
spoolful  of  yarn,  about  a  hundred  yards,  —  I  turning 
the  crank,  with  the  sweat  of  honest  toil  dripping  from 
me,  while  Mr.  Mill  ward  fed  in  the  fibre.  This  yarn, 
which  was  quite  firmly  spun,  we  doubled,  and  allowed 
it  to  twist  together  upon  itself  making  a  stout  cord 
nearly  fifty  yards  in  length  and  of  the  size  of  signal 
halyard  stuff.  It  was  strong  and  firm,  and  as  we  judged 
would  easily  stand  a  strain  of  fifty  pounds  without  break 
ing.  That  it  was  not  absolutely  smooth  and  even,  was 
a  matter  of  comparatively  small  consequence,  the  vital 
thing  being  strength  and  compactness. 


178  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

To  say  that  we  were  both  delighted  with  the  result  of 
our  labors,  is  only  faintly  to  express  the  real  condition 
of  mind  with  which  we  hailed  it. 

Alice  Millward  had  come  down  to  see  the  trial  of 
the  machine,  and  was  a  witness  of  the  making  of  the 
first  piece  of  cord,  and  we  all  joined  together  in  the 
rejoicing. 

Now  began  a  period  of  steady,  hard  work,  manufac- 
turing rope.  We  first  rigged  up  the  machine  under  the 
shed,  so  that  we  might  have  protection  from  the  sun 
and  the  rain,  and  then  set  to  work,  regularly  each  day, 
excepting  of  course  on  the  sabbath  day,  during  which 
we  always  rested  and  held  divine  service  at  least  once. 
We  divided  the  working  day  as  follows  :  from  breakfast 
until  nine  o'clock  we  spent  gathering  husks  enough  for 
the  whole  day's  work,  bringing  them  to  the  shed  and 
pounding  up  and  separating  sufficient  of  the  fibre  for  a 
run  of  half  an  hour.  Promptly  at  nine  o'clock  I  took 
the  crank  and  began  a  steady  half-hour's  grind  ;  then 
to  give  my  muscles  a  change  we  would  go  again  at 
pounding  and  separating  fibre  for  half  an  hour ;  then 
came  another  half-hour  at  the  crank,  and  so  on  until 
the  blessed  hour  of  noon  arrived,  when  we  would  take 
dinner  and  rest  until  one  o'clock ;  then  hard  at  it  again, 
rain  or  shine,  until  five  o'clock. 

Mr.  Millward  could  sit  at  his  feeding  work  and  was 
thus  able  to  endure  it ;  but  it  was  doubtless  very  hard 
for  him,  though  he  never  uttered  a  complaint  and  seemed 
to  thrive  on  it.  My  work  at  the  crank  was  very  hard 
indeed,  and  at  first  when  night  came  every  bone  and 
muscle  in  my  whole  body  would  ache  with  the  strain. 
As  the  days  went  by,  however,  the  work  grew  easier  and 
easier  day  by  day,  until  I  felt  it  no  longer  as  a  strain 
upon  me. 

At  five  o'clock  we  set  to  work  getting  up  the  neces- 


A   REMARKABLE   CURE.  179 

sary  fuel  and  doing  the  chores  about  the  house,  and  such 
little  things  as  Alice  wanted  attended  to.  Exactly  at 
six  o'clock  Alice,  who  carried  the  watch,  would  come 
out  and  call  us  in  for  supper,  to  which  two  tired  men 
were  sure  to  do  justice,  especially  to  the  hot  coffee 
which  we  now  had  at  each  meal  in  plenty.  After 
supper  we  generally  sat  on  the  porch  talking  over 
various  matters  of  interest.  Mr.  Mill  ward,  who  when  a 
younger  man  had  spent  ten  years  as  a  missionary  in 
India  and  South  Africa,  related  many  interesting  remi- 
niscences of  his  life  in  those  strange  countries  :  of  des- 
perate fights  with  savages  in  resisting  forays ;  of  hunts 
for  game  and  encounters  with  wild  beasts  ;  of  the  rude 
forms  of  worship  and  superstitions  of  the  African  tribes, 
and  the  complex  religion  of  the  Hindoos.  His  memory 
was  wonderfully  accurate  and  stored  with  countless 
incidents,  curious,  strange,  and  interesting. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

LOST   AND   FOUND. 

IN  about  two  weeks  a  brood  of  twelve  chickens  was 
hatched  out,  and  the  old  hen  fastened  in  the  coop 
made  no  end  of  clucking  and  feather-ruffling  in  her 
anxiety  that  the  fluffy,  yellow-feathered  little  innocents 
should  come  to  no  harm.  They  ran  in  and  out  between 
the  bars  at  pleasure,  and  very  soon  made  friends  with 
their  mistress  Alice,  who  could,  or  thought  she  could, 
distinctly  recognize  each  of  the  little  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  distinguish  one  from  another.  In  proof  of 
this  she  named  one  after  each  of  the  twelve  months  of 
the  year.  By  feeding  them  every  day  she  soon  got  the 
whole  brood  so  that  it  would  come  at  call,  and  some  of 
the  chicks  would  frequently  jump  into  her  lap,  or  eat 
from  her  hand  in  a  perfectly  fearless  manner.  It  was 
pleasant  to  hear  her  talk  to  her  little  pets  and  call  them 
by  name.  The  one  she  called  April  was  a  feeble  little 
yellow  chick,  much  put  upon  and  driven  about  by  the 
others,  especially  by  the  stout-legged,  fluffy,  brown  ball 
named  October,  which  seemed  to  be  ever  on  the  watch 
to  snatch  a  bug  or  worm  from  the  weakling. 

"  Now  you  bad,  bad  October,"  I  one  time  overheard 
her  say,  "  I  shall  certainly  have  to  lock  you  up,  if  you 
do  not  let  April's  bugs  alone.  You  selfish  little  creature, 
you  drop  a  nice,  fat  worm  of  your  own  to  snatch  a  bitter 
little  bug  away  from  poor  April,  and  when  you  get  it 
you  don't  like  it.  Serves  you  quite  right,  and  April  has 
got  your  worm  and  run  away  with  it,  too.  Why,  De- 


LOST  AND  FOUND.  l8l 

cembcr,  I  do  believe  you  are  losing  the  beautiful  stripes 
on  your  back.  Come,  June ;  come,  September,  and 
you  too,  August.  There,  there,  —  no  fighting ;  brethren 
should  dwell  together  in  unity."  Her  father  called  the 
brood  her  Sunday-school  class,  and  remarked  with  a 
smile,  "  Girls  are  all  alike ;  they  must  have  something  to 
love  and  pet,  and  the  more  helpless  it  is  the  better  they 
like  it." 

The  work  of  rope-yarn-making  went  steadily  on  day 
by  day,  the  pile  of  the  product  of  our  labor  growing  by 
slow  accretion,  until  it  was  a  great  heap.  This  was  such 
very  tedious  work  that  you  may  be  sure  I  kept  up  a 
steady  thinking  all  the  while  how  to  lessen  and  lighten 
it.  I  thought  of  two  schemes  before  long  that  would 
very  materially  diminish  the  amount  of  rope-yarn  re- 
quired. The  first  of  these  schemes  to  take  form  in  my 
mind  related  to  a  substitute  for  the  two  great  hawsers 
which  we  had  thought  would  be  required,  one  to  go 
under  the  bow  and  one  under  the  stern  of  the  sunken 
galleon.  I  said  nothing  about  this  idea  until  it  was  fully 
matured  in  my  mind.  Then  one  day  as  I  finished  a 
half-hour's  grind,  with  the  perspiration  streaming  from 
every  pore  and  the  breath  about  all  gone  from  my  body, 
I  said  :  — 

"  Mr.  Millward,  what  do  you  say  to  quitting  for  the 
day?  It  is  now  nearly  noon.  I  feel  as  though  I  would 
like  to  go  fishing." 

He  looked  at  me  a  moment,  and  then  replied,  "  I 
don't  wonder.  I  feel  that  way  myself.  If  you  are  for 
a  fishing  excursion  I  am  with  you  with  all  my  heart. 
'  All  work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy.' " 

Immediately  after  dinner  we  overhauled  the  fish  lines 
—  real  ones  with  genuine  hooks  this  time,  which  be- 
longed to  Mr.  Millward's  stores  —  and  collecting  a  sup- 
ply of  whelks,  clams,  and  shrimps  for  bait,  were  all  ready 


1 82  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON, 

for  embarking  by  the  time  Alice  came  down  to  the  boat. 
Just  beyond  the  bar  and  the  rollers  we  anchored  the 
boat,  and  the  sport  very  soon  began  by  Mr.  Millward 
pulling  up  a  fine  red-snapper,  and  continued  until  we 
had  caught  half  a  dozen  fine  fish.  Then  they  ceased  to 
bite  for  a  long  time,  and  the  cause  was  made  apparent 
by  Miss  Alice  hauling  up  a  three-foot  spotted  shark, 
which  managed  to  break  the  line  and  get  away.  But 
though  after  that  we  sat  patiently  for  an  hour  or  two, 
there  were  no  more  fish  to  be  had.  The  pirate  was 
cruising  about,  and  honest  fish  were  not  out  in  that 
neighborhood. 

"  Mr.  Millward,"  said  I  after  a  spell  of  silence,  un- 
interrupted by  bites,  "  I  think  we  are  done  making  rope, 
or  nearly  so  at  last." 

"  Why,  we  are  not  half  done,  according  to  a  liberal 
estimate,"  replied  he,  looking  up  in  surprise.  "We 
have  barely  enough  rope  for  the  gourds,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  much  greater  quantity  needed  for  the  two  four- 
inch  hawsers." 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  suppose  we  don't  need  the  hawsers  ? 
I  have  an  idea  that  it  will  be  much  easier  to  build  a 
framework  of  beams  strong  enough  to  lift  the  hulk  by, 
and  thus  dispense  with  the  hawsers.  At  any  rate  even 
if  it  took  almost  the  same  amount  of  work  —  and  it  will 
not  —  I  would  favor  a  change  of  labor.  The  rope- 
making  is  getting  very  monotonous." 

"  I  most  certainly  agree  with  you  in  that,"  he  replied ; 
"  it  does  seem  an  endless  task.  But  tell  me  how  you 
propose  to  construct  and  attach  your  framework." 

Thereupon  I  laid  it  out  in  diagram  on  the  seat  of  the 
boat  with  the  point  of  my  knife,  and  explained  it  until 
both  understood  the  plan.  They  were  intensely  in- 
terested. Alice  was  leaning  over  with  her  hand  upon 
my  shoulder  looking  and  listening,  and  as  I  felt  her 


LOST  AND  FOUND.  183 

breath  fan  my  cheek  I  came  to  a  dead  stop.  The  old 
gentleman  looked  up  from  the  rude  diagram  and  said, 
"  Well,  go  on,  go  on  ;  I  understand  it  thus  far,  —  what 
next  ? " 

This  seemed  to  bring  the  situation  to  Alice's  mind, 
for  she  instinctively  blushed,  and  gently  drew  away. 
My  heart  beat  with  a  thump  that  I  could  almost  hear ; 
but  the  old  man  did  not  seem  to  notice  my  confusion 
nor  the  innocent  action  of  the  girl.  He  was  bent 
intently  on  understanding  the  proposed  plan  which 
promised  to  shorten  our  dreary  yarn-making  task,  and 
had  no  eyes  or  ears  for  anything  else. 

Recovering  myself  I  went  on  with  the  explanation  of 
the  diagram.  I  showed  how  we  might  make  two  tri- 
angular frames  of  heavy  beams  or  spars  firmly  joined, 
how  these  two  frames  might  be  connected  together  at 
the  apex  of  each  by  a  long  beam  or  spar  in  such  manner 
as  to  be  distant  from  each  other  something  less  than 
the  length  of  the  galleon ;  how  the  connection  between 
the  long  beam  and  the  two  triangles  should  be  a  flexi- 
ble or  jointed  one,  so  that,  as  the  whole  structure,  suit- 
ably weighted  with  stones,  was  lowered  to  the  galleon 
the  triangles  could  be  held  away,  and  then  allowed  to 
swing  in  toward  the  galleon  and  come  under  her  head 
and  stern,  thus  cradling  the  hulk  in  a  support  at  each 
end  which  would  become  more  secure  when  a  strain 
was  subsequently  put  upon  the  frame.  The  calabashes 
for  lifting  could  be  attached  to  the  horizontal  connecting 
beam  and  thus  a  proper  distribution  of  the  strain  en- 
sured without  trouble.  After  careful  consideration  Mr. 
Millward  said  this  scheme  would  do.  We  then  dis- 
cussed the  amount  of  work  required  for  the  building, 
conveying  and  placing  of  such  a  framework,  as  com- 
pared with  the  work  which  would  be  required  to  make 
the  two  large  hawsers ;  and  after  mature  deliberation 


1 84  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

decided  in  favor  of  the  framework,  as  far  the  best  and 
quickest  method. 

The  fishing  was  over  for  the  time.  No  more  bites, 
and  no  prospect  of  any.  So  we  pulled  up  anchor  and 
went  in  to  dress  the  fish  and  make  preparation  for  a 
grand  chowder,  to  be  compounded  of  yams,  fish,  red 
pepper,  and  a  clove  of  wild  garlic.  When  this  was  in 
the  kettle  and  the  kettle  over  the  fire  (we  all  three  took 
a  hand  in  its  preparation)  Mr.  Millward  and  I  began  to 
overhaul  the  rope-yarn,  to  make  an  estimate  of  how 
much,  if  any,  more  would  be  needed,  in  view  of  the 
recent  change  of  plan.  It  was  at  this  time  that  I  con- 
ceived the  second  scheme.  It  occurred  to  me  that  a 
good  deal  of  rope  might  be  spared  if  we  could  enclose 
each  calabash,  or  bunch  of  calabashes,  in  a  wicker  cage 
made  of  willow  branches.  I  suggested  this,  and  we 
went  at  once  to  the  willows  and  cut  some  slender  wands, 
and  made  such  a  cage  as  I  had  in  mind,  out  of  fine  wands 
and  tied  with  bark.  This  cage  securely  enclosed  four 
calabashes  ;  as  the  wires  of  a  lantern-guard  enclose  the 
globe,  and  at  the  same  time  afforded  a  ready  means  for 
attaching  the  rope  without  wasting  any  of  its  length  in 
loops  and  bends  about  the  calabashes.  This  scheme 
would  save  at  least  one  fourth  to  one  third  of  the 
amount  of  rope  needed. 

We  estimated  that  four  of  the  large  calabashes  would 
lift  in  the  water  as  much  as  the  strength  of  the  rope 
employed  would  permit,  or  at  least  would  be  as  much 
as  we  cared  to  attempt  to  pull  down  at  once  into  the 
water.  The  trees  that  furnished  the  wands  were  plenti- 
ful along  the  lower  part  of  the  creek,  and  there  would 
be  no  lack  of  osiers.  I  have  spoken  of  these  trees  as 
being  "  willows ;  "  but,  in  truth,  I  believe  they  were 
some  species  of  water-loving  oleander.  They  were, 
however,  quite  like  willow  in  appearance  and  growth, 


LOST  AND  FOUND.  185 

and  furnished  abundance  of  long,  slender  branches, 
pliable  and  strong,  with  a  bark  that  easily  came  off  and 
was  itself  quite  strong  enough  to  tie  the  joints  with.  I 
believe  this  tree  is  a  better  one  for  basket- makers'  use 
than  the  common  osier  willow,  though  I  do  not  know  if 
it  is  ever  used  for  that  purpose. 

It  was  with  heartfelt  satisfaction  that  we  could  now 
believe  that  enough  rope  was  made,  and  that  the  daily 
monotonous  grind  which  had  been  going  on  for  weeks 
was  at  last  over.  Nor  was  the  basket-work  in  caging 
the  gourds  likely  to  be  of  a  trying  character,  as  it  was 
light,  easy  work,  in  which  we  could  all  engage  at  any 
time,  rain  or  shine,  and  enliven  with  talk. 

The  very  day  after  this  Mr.  Millward  and  I  began  to 
cut  the  osiers.  We  tied  them  in  bundles  of  a  hundred 
or  more,  and  put  them  into  the  water  to  keep  from  dry- 
ing out  until  used.  When  we  had  quite  a  large  stock 
on  hand  we  began  each  evening  after  supper  to  make 
the  cages,  enclosing  four  of  the  gourds,  now  quite  dry 
and  hard,  in  each  cage. 

In  the  mean  time,  as  regular  work  for  each  day,  we 
began  the  construction  of  the  framework.  For  this  we 
needed  seven  great  spars,  which  had  to  be  cut  on  the 
upland  from  a  species  of  pine  which  grew  there,  trimmed 
to  the  required  shape  on  the  ground,  and  from  thence 
got  down  to  the  sea. 

We  selected  the  trees  as  near  the  creek  as  possible, 
and  by  means  of  levers  rolled  them  into  the  water,  which 
was  barely  deep  enough  to  float  such  great  sticks.  The 
labor  was  a  great  deal  for  two  men  to  accomplish,  one 
being  old  and  feeble.  It  took  us  every  working  day  for 
three  weeks  to  get  these  timbers  down  to  the  mouth  of 
the  creek.  But  it  was  finally  done,  and  then  com- 
menced the  framing  together  of  the  two  triangles  and 
their  attachment  to  the  beam.  This  we  did  with  ties  of 


1 86  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON, 

strong  inch  and  a  half  rope  in  several  turns.  At  last, 
the  complete  structure  lay  floating  in  the  creek  ready  to 
be  towed  out  to  the  galleon. 

While  we  were  at  work  getting  out  the  timbers  on  the 
upland  it  happened  nearly  every  day  that  Alice  Mill- 
ward  would  either  go  with  us  in  the  morning  or  come 
out  at  noon  bringing  a  lunch  to  us  of  hot  baked  yams 
and  bacon,  and  so  go  home  with  us  at  night ;  or  when 
I  had  wet  work  in  the  creek,  following  down  a  launched 
timber,  she  would  return  with  her  father  in  advance. 
We  always  went  to  this  work  quite  early  in  the  morning 
and  returned  home  at  least  four  hours  before  sunset,  as 
the  cage-making  work  demanded  some  of  our  time.  On 
rainy  days  we  did  not  go  out  at  all,  but  kept  busy  with 
the  basket-work. 

One  day  it  happened  that  at  noon  when  we  expected 
Alice  with  the  lunch,  she  did  not  come  promptly  as 
usual,  and  after  waiting  nearly  an  hour  over  time,  we 
both  became  quite  anxious  to  know  why  she  did  not 
arrive.  I  told  Mr.  Millward  to  wait  where  he  was,  to 
receive  her  if  she  came,  while  I  went  back  to  the  house 
with  Duke  to  see  if  she  was  there.  Hurrying  along,  the 
dog  and  I  arrived  in  a  little  over  half  an  hour  at  the 
house,  going  by  the  shortest  cut  and  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible, running  indeed  part  of  the  way  where  the  nature 
of  the  ground  permitted.  As  I  had  greatly  feared,  she 
was  not  there.  Nothing  indicated  any  disturbance ; 
everything  was  as  we  had  left  it  in  the  morning,  and  I 
concluded  at  once  that  she  had  started  to  come  to  us 
with  the  lunch,  and  had  either  lost  her  way  in  the  dense 
growth,  or  had  received  some  hurt  on  the  road.  The 
obvious  thing  to  do  under  such  circumstances  was  to 
follow  up  the  regular  path  which  we  customarily  took, 
and  which  in  my  haste  to  reach  the  house  I  had  not 
pursued  on  my  return,  and  to  look  for  traces  of  her  on 
the  way. 


LOST  AND  FOUND. 

When  I  came  to  a  little  glade  where  the  candleber- 
ries  grew  plentifully  I  noted  a  place  where  I  thought 
it  possible  for  her  to  have  mistaken  the  path.  Two 
conspicuous  bushes,  separated  from  each  other  by  a 
distance  of  perhaps  five  rods  and  covered  with  vivid 
scarlet  blossoms  in  great  masses,  were  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  glade.  The  way  ran  to  the  right  hand  side 
of  the  right  hand  bush.  Now  if  she  had  taken  a  course 
to  the  right  hand  of  the  left  hand  bush,  she  would  be 
travelling  quite  thirty  degrees  away  from  the  true  di- 
rection. This  was  brought  to  my  mind  by  the  circum- 
stance that  several  times  Miss  Millward  had  come  with 
these  red  blossoms  in  her  hand,  or  decorated  with  them 
in  hat  or  dress,  probably  gathered  each  time  from  the 
bush  by  the  side  of  the  route.  I  went  over  at  once  to 
the  left  hand  bush,  and  found  that  a  branch  had  been 
freshly  broken  off.  It  was  probable,  therefore,  that 
here  was  the  place  of  divergence  from  the  true  route. 
Without  paying  much  attention  at  the  moment,  Miss 
Millward  had  doubtless  been  misled  by  this  false  guide, 
and  in  passing  had  broken  off  a  branch  of  the  flowers 
as  usual. 

That  this  surmise  was  correct  was  evidenced  a  few 
paces  further  along  by  fresh  leaves  and  twigs  of  the  bush 
which  she  had  thrown  down  after  securing  the  coveted 
blossoms  from  the  branch ;  and  finally  by  the  branch 
itself  partly  denuded  of  its  blossoms.  But  beyond  this 
I  could  find  no  trace.  Perhaps  a  skilled  woodsman  or 
tracker  could  have  easily  followed  the  trail  that  no 
doubt  existed,  plainly  enough  marked  for  those  who 
could  read  it ;  but  unfortunately  I  knew  not  how  to 
read  the  subtle  indications  that  are  said  to  be  so  plain 
to  those  versed  in  that  sort  of  writing.  I  then  tried  to 
start  the  dog  on  the  trail  by  leading  him  to  a  point 
where  I  knew  by  inference  it  existed.  But  either  he 


1 88  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

did  not  choose  to  take  up  the  scent,  was  unable  to  do 
so,  or  did  not  understand  what  I  desired  of  him.  At 
any  rate  he  made  no  effort  to  follow  the  trail. 

1  then  endeavored  to  reason  out  the  probable  course 
the  girl  had  taken,  by  trying  to  conceive  myself  misled 
in  the  same  manner.  Suppose  I  had  diverged  thirty 
degrees  unconsciously  to  the  left  of  the  route,  when 
should  I  discover  the  error  and  what  would  be  my 
course  when  I  did  discover  it?  By  this  method  of 
imaginative  analysis  I  was  able  to  follow  with  reasonable 
certainty  her  probable  course  through  the  forest  for 
about  forty  rods,  which  brought  me  to  a  dense  jungle 
all  interwoven  with  thorny  bamboo  and  utterly  impass- 
able. There  was  nothing  at  all  like  this  on  the  true 
route,  and  at  this  point,  if  not  before,  and  most  prob- 
ably at  this  exact  place  Alice  Millward  must  have  be- 
come conscious  that  she  had  lost  her  way.  Now  the 
thing  for  me  to  determine  was,  what  did  she  next  do  ? 
Most  probably,  finding  herself  lost,  she  at  once  sought  to 
retrace  her  steps  until  she  could  arrive  at  some  familiar 
place  from  which  to  take  a  fresh  departure.  If  she  had 
gone  back  to  the  glade  she  would  have  found  the  blos- 
soming bushes  and  probably  from  thence  have  been  able 
to  get  a  correct  start.  It  was  fair  to  infer,  therefore, 
that  she  must  have  missed  the  glade,  passing  it  either 
on  the  right  hand  or  the  left.  But  if  she  had  passed  it 
on  the  right  hand  the  angle  of  such  a  course  would 
have  speedily  brought  her  out  into  the  open  ground 
from  which  the  sea  and  the  beach,  and  possibly  the 
house  and  shed  were  visible,  and  she  would  have  had 
no  difficulty  in  getting  home.  Therefore  the  inference 
was  justifiable  that  in  endeavoring  to  retrace  her  steps, 
the  girl  had  veered  to  the  left  hand ;  this  would  lead 
her  to  the  heavy  timber  that  lines  the  creek  in  that 
direction. 


LOST  AND  FOUND.  189 

As  soon  as  I  had  reached  this  conclusion,  I  started 
immediately  to  tell  her  father  of  the  situation.  I  soon 
reached  him  and  found  him  very  anxiously  waiting  my 
coming.  I  told  him  briefly  where  I  thought  she  was  now 
probably  wandering,  and  my  reasons  for  the  conjecture. 
It  considerably  eased  his  mind  to  be  able  to  think  she 
was  merely  lost. 

It  was  decided  that  he  should  return  to  the  house  at 
once  and  await  me  there,  or  after  getting  there  come 
back  up  the  creek  to  meet  us,  if  I  should  find  her.  . 

Without  delay  I  started  for  the  thick  woods  where  I 
hoped  to  find  the  girl.  As  soon  as  I  was  well  into  the 
heavy  timber  I  began  to  shout  at  intervals  every  few 
minutes,  and  then  listen  for  a  reply ;  but  none  came, 
and  I  wandered  in  and  about  the  forest  in  this  man- 
ner for  several  hours,  shouting  until  I  was  so  hoarse 
that  I  could  scarcely  be  heard  ten  rods  away.  Finally, 
when  it  was  almost  dark,  I  found  her  far  up  the  creek, 
and  almost  to  the  cleft  or  chasm  through  which  I 
had  passed  on  the  day  I  discovered  the  plantation. 
She  was  on  the  bank  of  the  creek  and  coming  down 
toward  me  through  the  tangled  undergrowth.  I  tried 
to  call,  but  was  so  hoarse  from  the  long  continued 
shouting  that  I  was  not  heard,  and  so  she  did  not  see 
me  until  we  were  quite  near  each  other. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Morgan,"  she  cried,  with  a  voice  full  of 
tears,  "  I  am  so  glad  to  find  you  ! "  Instinctively  I  put 
my  arm  around  her  and  took  her  hand  in  mine. 

"  Let  us  hurry  on,"  she  resumed,  "  and  find  poor 
dear  father,  he  must  have  been  so  anxious  about  me." 

I  told  her  he  was  waiting  near  the  creek,  or  at  the 
house  for  us  and  we  would  soon  be  there,  as  it  was  not 
over  an  hour's  walk. 

She  was  softly  crying  to  herself,  and  apparently  much 
shaken.  She  clung  to  my  hand  as  though  fearful  of 


1-90  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

losing  her  guide.  We  walked  on  in  the  rapidly  gath- 
ering dusk,  and  she  became  gradually  more  quiet  and 
assured,  so  that  she  soon  began  to  talk  freely  of  her 
adventure.  It  seemed  that  she  had  only  just  found  the 
creek,  and  though,  as  she  said,  it  seemed  to  run  in  the 
wrong  direction  entirely,  she  had  reasoned  that  if  fol- 
lowed down  it  would  finally  bring  her  home.  She  had 
just  about  determined  to  go  into  the  water  and  wade 
down  the  stream  itself  if  the  tangled  growth  became 
too  thick  on  the  banks,  as  it  seemed  quite  likely  would 
happen  soon,  and  as,  indeed,  was  the  case  a  little  way 
on.  I  fancied  the  distress  of  mind  and  body  that  this 
would  have  caused  in  the  darkness  now  fast  coming  on, 
and  my  heart  grew  soft  and  tender.  I  told  her  then  of 
the  way  I  came  to  find  the  route  she  had  most  prob- 
ably taken,  the  incident  of  the  red  blossoms,  and  all 
the  course  of  reasoning  by  which  I  was  led  in  the 
search. 

She  then  took  out  of  her  dress  the  bunch  of  blos- 
soms, and  said,  "  Then  it  is  to  these  flowers  I  owe  this 
meeting?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  to  the  gathering  of  those  red  blos- 
soms. Don't  you  think  I  have  earned  them  as  a 
reward  ?  " 

Without  a  word  she  handed  me  the  bunch,  glowing 
red  as  the  sunset  tints  which  yet  marked  the  sky. 

Somehow  I  felt,  as  we  stumbled  along  the  darkening 
way,  her  hand  clasped  in  mine  as  it  rested  on  my  arm, 
that  our  hearts  had  come  nearer  together  than  I  had 
ever  dared  before  to  hope  might  be  the  case,  and  my 
own  heart  was  filled  with  a  wild,  new-born  hope.  She 
seemed  to  be  mine  as  I  lifted  her  over  the  fallen  logs, 
and  helped  her  past  the  rocks  and  obstacles.  It  very 
quickly  grew  quite  dark,  and  it  was  no  easy  matter 
under  such  circumstances  to  keep  the  right  course,  so 


LOST  AND  FOUND.  191 

that  we  could  not  talk  even  if  either  of  us  had  feH  a 
desire  to  do  so.  In  silence  we  struggled  along,  until 
finally  we  came  out  into  the  open.  The  sea  with  its 
wonderful  self-light  was  plainly  visible  before  us,  and 
the  ceaseless  murmur  of  the  surf  as  it  came  to  our  .ears 
was  a  most  welcome  sound.  A  bright  fire  built  by  her 
father  to  guide  us  shone  like  a  beacon  before  us,  red- 
dening the  palm-trees  near  the  house.  Soon  we  could 
see  him  standing  near  it  on  the  watch.  And  in  a  few 
minutes  she  was  clasped  in  his  arms. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A  BAD   PORT. 

WHEN  the  lifting-frame  was  complete,  there  was 
no  reason  why  it  should  not  at  once  be  floated 
out  and  secured  in  place  at  the  sunken  hulk  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  as  the  weather  was  very  fine  at  that  par- 
ticular time,  and  the  water  clear,  we  concluded  to  do  it 
immediately.  We  took  both  boats,  Mr.  Millward  and 
Alice  in  his  boat,  and  I  alone  in  the  "  Mohawk."  With 
a  line  from  the  floating  frame  to  each  boat  we  towed  it 
along  so  easily  and  rapidly  that  in  a  couple  of  hours  we 
were  over  the  wreck.  We  anchored  the  two  boats  one 
at  the  bow  and  one  at  the  stern  of  the  galleon,  and  pull- 
ing the  floating  frame  between  the  two,  fastened  it 
safely  by  a  line  at  each  end  to  the  boat  anchors.  The 
next  task  was  to  get  some  heavy  rocks  with  which  to 
sink  it,  and  attach  them  to  the  frame  in  such  manner 
that  when  the  latter  was  down  in  position  to  engage  the 
wreck  bow  and  stern,  the  rocks  could  be  released  to 
permit  the  frame  to  rise  by  its  own  power  of  flotation. 
It  would  then,  we  thought,  be  secure  against  displace- 
ment, as  there  was  evidently  very  little,  if  any,  movement 
of  the  water  at  the  depth  the  galleon  lay.  Leaving  the 
frame  attached  to  the  anchor-lines  we  went  to  the  north 
cape  with  the  boats,  and  loaded  on  twelve  stones  of 
considerable  weight,  which  we  carried  out  and  secured 
to  the  frame  by  slip-knots  in  such  manner  that  by  a 
pull  from  above  on  a  rope  each  might  be  released. 

When  the  stones  were  attached  we  found  that  ten  of 
them  were  just  enough  to  sink  the  frame  slowly.     By 


A   BAD  PORT.  193 

means  of  a  couple  of  ropes,  one  at  each  end  of  the 
frame,  paid  out  from  the  two  boats  by  Mr.  Millward 
and  me,  we  guided  the  contrivance  in  its  descent  until 
it  landed  exactly  in  place.  Alice  Millward  with  the 
water-glass  watched  the  frame,  and  indicated  to  us  how 
to  manipulate  the  ropes.  Thus  she  would  call  out, 
"  Slowly,  Mr.  Morgan,  a  little  more  forward ;  a  little 
more  aft,  father;  now  you  are  going  right,"  until  it 
was  in  proper  position.  We  then  pulled  the  ropes  at- 
tached to  the  stones,  releasing  the  slip-knots  two  at  a 
time  to  keep  the  balance  properly,  and  when  relieved 
of  this  weight  the  frame  floated  up,  enclosing  and  grasp- 
ing the  wreck  at  each  end.  This  part  of  the  work  was 
therefore  successfully  and  easily  completed. 

The  frame  was  in  position,  and  it  now  only  remained 
to  attach  the  calabashes,  one  cage  of  them  at  a  time, 
and  we  hoped  the  galleon  would  be  lifted.  In  prepar- 
ation for  this  work,  —  which  we  would  not  be  ready  to 
undertake  for  some  time,  or  until  all  the  calabashes 
were  caged  and  fitted  with  attaching  ropes,  —  we  had, 
before  sinking  the  frame-work,  passed  over  the  spar  that 
connected  the  two  triangles  the  bight  of  an  endless 
rope,  for  use  as  a  down-haul  with  which  the  calabash 
cages  might  be  pulled  down.  This  endless  down-haul 
line  we  proposed  to  hitch  to  a  buoy  when  we  left,  so 
that  it  might  be  supported  within  reach  until  wanted. 

Being  very  anxious  to  test  the  working  of  my  plan 
for  pulling  down  and  attaching  the  calabashes,  I  had 
brought  along  a  single  cage  of  them  for  the  purpose  of 
trying  the  experiment  of  pulling  it  down  and  attaching 
it  to  the  longitudinal  spar.  This  scheme  was  a  very 
simple  one,  and  I  sincerely  hoped  it  would  prove  suc- 
cessful, as  it  had  given  me  considerable  study  in  its 
contrivance,  and  was,  I  thought,  the  best  and  easiest 
way  to  accomplish  the  result.  The  following  descrip- 
13 


194  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

tion  will  make  it  clear.  To  the  cage  holding  the  cala- 
bashes was  attached  a  rope  four  feet  long.  On  the  free 
end  of  this  attaching  rope  was  a  hook  made  of  a  stout 
forked  branch.  Secured  to  the  endless  down-haul  rope 
was  a  similar  hook.  By  catching  these  hooks  together, 
the  cage  could  be  pulled  down  until  the  two  hooks 
passed  under  the  spar  and  came  up  on  the  other  side. 
Now  by  crossing  the  down-haul  rope  the  hook  on  the 
attaching  rope,  I  thought,  could  be  made  to  hook  over 
that  part  of  its  own  rope  which  was  on  the  other  side  of 
the  spar.  Then  by  reversing  the  pull  on  the  down-haul 
its  hook  would  be  released  and  the  calabash  cage  be 
left  attached  to  the  spar  by  the  stout  rope  passing 
around  the  spar  and  hooked  to  itself. 

The  experiment,  to  our  great  delight,  was  entirely  suc- 
cessful and  satisfactory;  and  when  we  had  fixed  the 
down-haul  rope  securely  to  a  buoy  we  set  sail  and  re- 
turned feeling  highly  encouraged  at  the  outlook  for  our 
labors. 

As  this  business  of  pulling  down  and  affixing  the  cal- 
abashes was  likely  to  be  a  long  and  tedious  job,  to  be 
successfully  prosecuted  only  in  good  weather,  we  de- 
termined to  begin  it  as  soon  as  we  could  get  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  cages  ready  for  a  start ;  and  thus  we 
could  work  in  suitable  weather  at  the  wreck  attaching 
the  cages,  and  in  unsuitable  weather  at  home  in  prepar- 
ing them  for  attachment.  It  would  be  only  at  the  very 
last  that  we  need  watch  for  the  wreck  to  rise,  and  pre- 
pare for  towing  her  in  to  shore.  Until  enough  calabashes 
to  float  her  had  been  sent  down,  such  as  were  attached 
would  of  course  be  simply  anchored  to  the  wreck. 

It  was  oppressively  warm  that  evening  after  we  had 
returned  home,  and  we  all  brought  our  chairs  down  to 
the  shed  to  better  enjoy  the  slight  breeze  which  breathed 
in  from  the  sea.  We  sat  thus,  watching  the  breakers 


A  BAD  PORT.  195 

roll  in  through  the  dim  light,  and  crash  on  the  sand 
with  a  long,  running  sound  that  passed  from  left  to  right 
along  the  beach,  slow  but  regular  as  heart-beats  in 
their  constant  reiteration.  Mr.  Millward  was  seated  at  a 
little  distance  from  Alice  and  me  enjoying  his  pipe,  the 
fire  in  the  bowl  of  which  shone  at  intervals  with  a  red 
glow,  as  though  in  rhythmic  sympathy  with  the  sound 
of  the  surf.  The  stars  were  bright  and  sprinkled  all 
over  the  clear,  dark  sky,  which  was  lit  now  and  then  by 
the  long,  fiery  thread  of  a  meteor  ruled  rapidly  across 
the  azure  dome,  and  lingering  as  an  impression  on  the 
retina  long  enough  so  that'by  turning  the  eye  away  the 
line  of  fire  was  transported  to  another  quarter,  —  fading 
out,  however,  too  fast  for  us  to  locate  it  distinctly. 

It  was  a  peaceful,  quiet  summer  night,  and  we  sat 
silent,  enjoying  together  the  restfulness  of  it.  I  looked 
at  the  dim  outlines  of  Alice  as  she  sat  by  my  side  lean- 
ing her  cheek  upon  one  hand,  and  my  heart  was  filled 
with  conscious  depths  of  love  and  tenderness ;  then 
past  her  at  the  shadowy  figure  of  the  old  man  and  the 
intermittent  glow  of  his  pipe.  A  great  peace  seemed  to 
possess  my  soul,  a  wonderful  content  of  spirit,  and  I 
said  to  myself,  "  This  is  the  peace  of  pure  content  and 
happiness."  Often  since  have  I  recalled  that  night, 
and  felt  that  man,  born  to  trouble  and  sorrow  on  this 
earth,  —  beautiful  though  it  be,  —  can  hope  for  no 
greater  bliss  than  such  hours  afford  him.  Happy  hours 
come  not  at  call,  nor  often,  nor  long  remain.  Satisfied 
ambition  brings  them  not,  nor  gratified  pride,  nor 
gathered  wealth ;  but  they  come  only  when  there  is 
united  this  trinity  of  conditions  :  rest  from  labor  done, 
the  healthy  body,  the  presence  of  those  we  love. 
When  these  three  things  are  united,  the  peaceful,  happy 
hour  will  come.  And  when  this  sweet  angel  of  peace 
shall  hover  over  you,  drive  it  not  away,  my  friend,  by 


196  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

taking  troubled  thought  of  the  morrow,  nor  by  grieving 
over  the  past,  nor  regretting  opportunities  missed. 
Enjoy  it  in  contented  silence  while  you  may,  and  with 
little  thought  of  past  or  future. 

An  unusually  brilliant  meteor  shot  in  a  long  diagonal 
line  from  the  zenith  nearly  to  the  horizon,  and  there 
burst  in  a  ball  of  fire  like  a  rocket.  Alice  laid  her  hand 
on  my  arm  as  though  to  call  my  attention,  but  without 
a  word.  The  touch  was  light ;  the  little  hand  remained 
but  a  moment  on  my  arm,  and  was  then  as  gently  with- 
drawn. But,  light  and  momentary,  it  thrilled  me  through 
and  through  ;  the  angel  of  peace  took  instant  flight,  and 
thought  came  back  with  a  rush.  The  restless  fear  that 
we  might  be  parted ;  that  she  could  never  love  me  ;  the 
instinctive  wish  to  know  with  certainty  her  heart ;  a 
thousand  contending  emotions  stirred  me.  With  all  my 
will  I  strove  to  calm  myself  and  still  the  wild  beating  of 
my  heart.  What  strange  power  was  this  which  the  girl 
had  acquired  over  me,  that  a  mere  touch  of  her  hand 
sufficed  to  banish  quiet,  fill  my  brain  with  teeming  fan- 
cies and  my  breast  with  longing  and  unrest  ?  The  quiet 
stars  still  shone  as  before,  the  surf  still  fell  in  measured 
cadence,  the  gentle,  rustling  breeze  still  fanned  my 
cheek  with  its  soft,  cool  breath ;  but  peace  and  quiet 
and  rest  had  departed.  My  soul  was  fevered,  and  anx- 
iety preyed  once  more  upon  my  heart. 

The  night-blooming  cereus  had  unfolded  its  waxen, 
white  flowers,  and  the  warm  air  was  laden  with  its 
strange,  sweet  perfume  mingling  with  the  fragrance  of 
the  dew-moistened  foliage.  Now  there  stole  up  out  of 
the  verge  of  the  sea  the  thin,  pale  crescent  of  the  young 
moon,  a  mere  rounded  line  of  silver  tilted  back  as  though 
reclining  in  its  new  feebleness,  and  giving  but  little  more 
light  than  the  brilliant  lamp  of  Venus  that  hung,  a  point 
of  corruscating  splendor,  near  it. 


A  BAD  PORT.  197 

Again,  as  the  silver  horn  emerged  from  the  dim  hori- 
zon line,  I  felt  the  soft  touch  of  her  hand  upon  my  arm, 
and  in  low  tones  she  said,  " Is  it  not  beautiful? " 

For  answer  I  took  the  hand  in  mine.  Cool  and  soft 
it  felt  to  my  fevered  grasp.  She  withdrew  it  not,  but, 
passive,  let  it  lie  for  a  few  minutes.  Some  say  that 
souls  while  still  embodied  do  and  can  communicate 
with  each  other  in  some  occult  and  mysterious  way. 
If  that  be  true,  then  surely  my  soul  must  then  and 
there  have  greeted  Alice  Millward's. 

Mr.  Millward,  who  had  once  or  twice  nodded  over 
his  pipe,  now  rose  and  knocking  out  the  ashes  reminded 
us  that  it  was  time  to  go  to  bed;  and  he  and  Alice 
retired  to  the  house.  As  I  had  no  fancy  to  be  shut 
up  in-doors  on  such  a  night,  I  brought  my  hammock 
down  to  the  shed  and  swung  it  there  where  the  sound 
of  the  sea  would  lull  me  to  sleep,  while  the  breeze 
fanned  by  with  its  cool  breath. 

The  next  morning  we  went  diligently  to  work  caging 
the  calabashes  in  sets  of  four,  rigging  each  cage  with  its 
short  attaching  rope  and  hook.  The  hooks  I  cut  with 
axe  and  knife  from  the  bushes  of  the  nearest  jungle. 
The  work  was  congenial  and  light.  Under  the  shed  we 
arranged  some  tussocks  of  dried  grass  so  that  we  could 
be  seated  low  down ;  and  thus  ranged  in  a  sociable 
triangle  we  worked,  chatted,  laughed,  and  joked;  the 
old  gentleman  revived  his  experiences  of  former  years  ; 
and  altogether  it  was  a  very  pleasant  time.  Whenever 
the  weather  was  favorable  we  would  load  the  completed 
cages  of  calabashes  on  board  Mr.  Millward's  boat,  and 
all  three  of  us  would  sail  to  the  galleon  and  sink  and  at- 
tach them  one  at  a  time,  in  the  manner  already  indicated. 

Little  by  little  the  great  pile  of  calabashes  near  the 
shed  diminished  until  it  was  nearly  gone.  We  had 
attached  literally  thousands  of  the  gourds  to  the  frame- 


198  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

work  which  grasped  the  wreck,  until  now  when  we 
looked  through  the  water-glass  the  hull  was  no  longer 
visible,  by  reason  of  the  mass  of  caged  gourds  sunk  far 
under  water,  each  one  of  course  pulling  upwards  to  the 
full  extent  of  its  buoyancy.  Still  we  kept  on.  I  began 
to  think  that  I  should  have  to  make  another  trip  to  the 
calabash  trees.  But  it  was  not  to  be  so. 

One  morning  we  arrived  at  the  galleon  with  a  huge 
load  in  both  boats  which  we  had  got  ready  during  the 
two  preceding  days.  We  had  not  pulled  half  of  them 
down  when  I  felt  the  hauling-line  slacken  in  my  hand. 
Now  I  had  fully  expected  this  very  thing  sometime  to 
take  place ;  but  when  it  did  occur  I  thought  for  the 
moment  that  the  line  had  frayed  and  parted,  and  did 
not  realize  that  the  hull  was  rising.  Then  as  suddenly 
I  understood,  and  shouted  to  Mr.  Millward  to  cast  off 
his  boat  from  the  buoy,  as  the  wreck  was  rising,  and 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word  did  the  same  for  my 
boat.  We  had  no  sooner  cast  loose  than  slowly  the 
gourds  lifted  their  heads  in  a  confused  mass  to  the  sur- 
face, rattling  and  knocking  together  in  the  swell.  The 
water  all  about  became  dark  with  ooze  and  sand  and 
fragments  of  weed  stirred  up  from  the  ocean's  bed.  I 
felt  sure  that  the  old  hull  was  floating  beneath  in  the 
frame,  because,  though  I  could  not  see  it  on  account  of 
the  condition  of  the  water,  I  knew  that  had  the  frame- 
work let  go,  its  beams  would  have  floated  up  and  would 
now  be  in  view  among  the  floating  gourds. 

At  the  sight  Mr.  Millward  jumped  upon  the  gunwale 
of  his  little  schooner  and  waving  his  hat  began  a  cheer, 
in  which  we  all  joined.  The  old  hulk  floated  at  last ! 
Its  long  rest  was  broken  and  a  new  voyage  begun. 

By  a  piece  of  sheer  good-luck  it  so  happened  that 
the  tide  was  coming  in  and  nearly  at  the  flood,  the 
swell  was  setting  to  the  land,  and  moreover  the  little 


A   SAD  PORT.  199 

breeze  there  was  came  from  the  right  quarter  to  drift 
the  wreck  in  to  the  point  of  rocks.  Everything  was 
favorable  to  success  in  beaching  the  galleon  there. 

In  the  greatest  imaginable  excitement  we  hastened  to 
get  the  hauling-line  on  board  the  schooner,  and  secur- 
ing both  boats  to  it  made  all  sail  and  endeavored  thus 
to  help  the  old  hulk  along  by  towing.  It  was  slug- 
gish business.  The  boats  would  rise  and  fall  with  the 
swell  and  lean  down  to  the  breeze,  then  come  up,  the 
sails  empty,  and  then  down  again,  and  so  on.  But  we 
moved,  and  in  the  right  direction,  though  slowly,  very 
slowly  at  first,  and  then  a  little  faster  as  the  rattling 
mass  of  gourds  and  the  heavy  load  beneath  it  got  fairly 
under  way. 

I  never  saw  Mr.  Millward  so  wrought  up  with  excite- 
ment as  at  this  time.  And  indeed  we  were  all  in  some- 
thing of  the  same  condition.  For  here  was  the  result 
of  long  labor  culminating  before  our  eyes.  Small  won- 
der, then,  that  there  should  be  much  hilarity.  The 
galleon  was  afloat,  and  our  ship  was  coming  in  !  Half- 
way to  the  beach  Mr.  Millward,  in  a  sweet  and  powerful 
voice,  rolled  out  that  good  old  hymn,  "  We  are  going 
home,"  and  back  from  the  rocks  came  the  echo  of  the 
last  word,  "  to-morrow."  We  all  joined  heartily  in  the 
chorus,  with  the  best  of  good-will. 

In  about  an  hour,  and  as  near  as  could  be  at  high 
tide  the  Spanish  galleon  grounded  between  two  rocks 
on  a  sandy  bottom  just  at  the  north  cape  of  the  island, 
and  we  beached  my  boat  near  by  in  a  sheltered  place 
to  the  southwest  of  the  cape.  The  other  boat  we  sailed 
down  to  the  creek,  got  something  to  eat,  put  the  axe 
and  some  other  things  on  board,  and  came  back  to  the 
cape,  where  we  anchored  to  await  the  falling  of  the 
tide. 

As  we  sat  in  the  boat  lifted  by  the  swell,  and  watched 


200  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

each  wave  wash  through  between  the  rocks  where  lay 
the  galleon,  I  began  to  realize  that  Mr.  Mill  ward's 
spirited  song  about  "going  home  to-morrow  "  was  not 
very  likely  to  come  true  for  a  good  many  to-morrows. 
There  was  a  regular  tide-way  through  this  passage,  and 
I  began  to  doubt  whether  the  sea  had  not  played  us  a 
sad  trick  in  bringing  the  galleon  to  such  a  port. 

That  the  situation  of  affairs  may  be  better  understood, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  describe  precisely  the  lay  of  the 
land.  The  two  rocks  were  separated  from  each  other 
by  a  narrow  passage  about  thirty  feet  in  width  at  the 
end  where  the  galleon  entered,  and  narrowed  to  per- 
haps ten  feet  at  the  other  end  in  a  length  of  a  hundred 
and  fifty  feet.  Through  this  passage  the  swell  washed 
with  great  force.  Indeed,  the  galleon  and  its  support- 
ing mass  of  gourds  had  been  carried  in  on  the  heave  of 
the  swell  and  the  hull  dropped  there  with  a  crash  on 
the  bottom.  The  frame- work  and  cages  had  been  at 
once  torn  loose,  and  the  spars  and  gourds  lay  jammed 
in  the  narrow  exit  beyond,  the  water  churned  to  foam  by 
the  obstruction  they  offered,  dashing  continually  against 
them  and  tearing  them  one  by  one  loose  from  one  another 
until  the  sea  all  beyond  was  littered  with  the  fragments. 

Even  as  we  watched,  this  debris  little  by  little  washed 
out  and  away.  The  hull  of  the  galleon,  it  is  true,  lying 
on  the  bottom  and  well  under  water  where  at  high  tide 
it  was  full  five  and  twenty  feet  in  depth,  would  suffer  no 
such  damage  probably  in  the  present  state  of  the 
weather.  But  on  the  other  hand  the  fall  of  the  tide 
would  most  likely  not  be  great  enough  to  leave  her 
above  water,  and  there  was  no  telling  what  might  hap- 
pen if  a  gale  of  wind  should  come  along,  especially  with 
a  low  tide.  Indeed  I  speedily  made  up  my  mind  that 
there  was  not  only  going  to  be  great  danger  of  the 
wreck  breaking  up  and  getting  away  from  us  entirely 


A  BAD  PORT.  201 

by  washing  piecemeal  out  through  the  exit  into  the  sea, 
but  also,  if  this  dire  misfortune  should  be  long  delayed, 
that  we  should  not  be  able  to  get  at  the  cargo  for  the 
racing  of  the  water,  even  when  at  its  lowest.  I  must 
confess  that  when  this  fully  dawned  on  me  I  felt 
greatly  discouraged. 

At  last  after  a  weary  wait  the  tide  reached  its  lowest, 
and  as  I  feared,  we  found  that  we  dared  not  go  into  the 
race-way  with  the  boat.  Each  swell  swept  through  it 
with  a  great  rush,  breaking  into  foam  in  the  narrower 
part,  so  that  a  boat  would  have  been  dashed  to  pieces 
unless  fortunate  enough  to  swim  fairly  out  through  the 
exit,  and  would  then  be  extremely  liable  to  be  over- 
whelmed. We  drew  up  to  the  rock  which  lay  adjoining 
the  beach  and  landed,  so  that  we  might  look  down  on 
the  galleon  from  above.  There  she  lay  with  the  deck 
just  awash  at  the  water's  surface,  except  when  a  green 
sea  came  whelming  through,  and  then  she  was  buried 
to  the  depth  of  several  feet.  The  old  hulk  was  a  most 
venerable  and  curious  sight;  shells  of  various  kinds 
grown  fast  all  over  her  ancient  deck  and  sides;  long 
streamers  of  sea-weed  floating  from  her  like  hair ;  coral 
branches,  sand,  ooze,  mud,  —  a  thousand  reminis- 
cences of  her  long  sleep  on  the  bottom  were  now 
plainly  observable  in  the  light  of  day. 

We  all  three  stood  looking  down  upon  this  curious 
sight  in  silence,  which  was  finally  broken  by  Mr.  Mill- 
ward,  saying, — 

"  I  am  afraid  we  are  as  far  away  from  the  treasure 
that  lies  in  that  old  ship  as  we  were  before  we  raised 
her." 

I  did  not  feel  like  talking  about  it,  and  therefore  said 
nothing,  but  stood  with  hands  in  pockets  looking  at  this 
exhibition  of  what  I  regarded  as  the  perversity  of  inani- 
mate matter.  That  the  bewitched  old  galleon  should 


2O2  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

have  run  her  nose  exactly  into  this  place  of  all  others, 
when  there  were  miles  of  fair  sloping  beach  on  which 
she  might  have  stranded,  seemed  like  a  deadly  stab  in 
the  back  by  a  treacherous  adverse  fate.  It  was  enough 
to  make  a  man  swear,  if  that  would  have  done  any 
good.  And  possibly  it  might  have  eased  my  feelings 
temporarily  if  I  had  possessed  talent  enough  in  that 
direction  to  have  done  full  justice  to  the  subject. 

This  would  have  been  a  good  time  to  give  up  the 
whole  project,  —  to  wash  my  hands  of  all  Spanish  galle- 
ons in  general  and  this  perverse  one  in  particular.  But 
I  must  say  that  no  such  thought  entered  my  mind.  I 
was  disgusted,  and  very  much  disappointed,  and  not  a 
little  angry ;  but  as  for  giving  up,  that  was  simply  im- 
possible. The  situation  stunned  me,  and  there  seemed 
no  way  out  of  it ;  but  I  could  not  entertain  the  thought 
that  the  recovery  of  the  treasure  was  impossible. 

Alice  Millward  came  up  and  drew  me  away  by  the 
arm.  "  Do  not  look  so  downcast,"  said  she.  "  Surely 
we  need  not  grieve  over  this  failure.  If  we  cannot 
get  the  treasure  we  are  no  worse  off  than  we  were 
yesterday." 

"  But  you  do  not  know,"  said  I,  fiercely,  "  what  it 
means  to  me.  I  have  been  working  to  save  my 
birthplace." 

"  Never  mind,  never  mind,  Mr.  Morgan,"  replied  she, 
gently,  "  let  us  go  home  to  the  house  now  and  think  it 
all  over  there,  where  the  hateful  thing  will  be  out  of 
sight." 

"  We  can  do  no  more  here  and  we  might  as  well 
be  starting,"  added  the  old  man.  Between  them  they 
led  me  to  the  boat,  the  old  man  saying  various  things 
about  not  putting  your  trust  in  things  of  this  earth ; 
that  riches  are  not  enduring;  and  other  like  remarks, 
all  of  which  fell  on  my  ear  without  at  all  penetrating 


A   BAD  PORT.  203 

to  my  understanding.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  was  utterly 
dazed  and  unable  to  give  the  thing  any  sort  of  con- 
secutive thought. 

We  made  the  run  quickly  to  Home  Creek,  and  all 
went  early  to  bed,  a  most  disheartened  lot  of  mortals. 
Contrary  to  my  expectation,  I  soon  fell  asleep  and  slept 
soundly  all  night  long. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   WAVES    IN   HARNESS. 

"TT  ,7HEN  a  carefully  concocted  plan  carried  out  in 
VV  dustriously  and  faithfully  results  in  a  total  fail- 
ure to  achieve  the  end  sought,  the  consequences  are 
disastrous  in  more  ways  than  one.  There  is  first  the 
loss  of  all  the  labor,  which  is  important ;  and  secondly, 
and  far  more  important,  there  is  also  inevitably  a  loss 
of  confidence  in  one's  own  power  to  achieve  success. 

I  went  to  my  hammock  under  the  shed  that  night 
humiliated  to  the  last  degree,  with  a  sense  of  utter  con- 
tempt for  my  own  judgment,  —  in  short,  in  a  sneering 
mood,  criticising  the  folly  I  had  displayed  in  not  fore- 
seeing events  and  making  due  provision  for  them.  In 
a  rank  spirit  of  self-criticism  and  self-condemnation  I 
reviewed  what  I  had  done,  and  what  I  had  left  undone, 
and  deliberately  pronounced  myself  a  stupid  ass  for  all 
my  pains.  Nevertheless,  as  before  stated  I  went  very 
quickly  to  sleep,  and  slept  the  traditional  sleep  of  the 
just  until  after  dawn. 

When  I  awakened,  the  new  risen  sun  hung  bathed 
in  fleecy  clouds  of  primrose  just  above  a  sea  all  golden 
and  flashing  with  his  level  beams;  the  dew  gemmed 
each  blade  and  leaf;  the  cool  morning  air  trembled 
gently  among  the  glistening  foliage ;  the  birds  sang  in 
noisy  chorus  far  and  near;  everything  was  fresh  and 
rested  and  hopeful  and  fair  and  encouraging. 

I  felt  braced  and  full  of  confidence  and  hope ;  all 
the  worry  and  trouble  of  the  night  had  rolled  away  and 
gone.  Never  say  die  !  There  is  no  such  thing  as  fail. 


THE   WA  VES  IN  HARNESS.  2O5 

The  only  question  now  is,  what  shall  we  do  next? 
How  shall  we  protect  the  wreck  where  it  lies,  and  over- 
come the  obstacles  that  have  risen  in  our  path?  I 
went  whistling  a  jolly  tune  down  to  the  bathing-place  in 
the  creek,  took  a  cool  plunge  in  the  clear  water,  and 
returned  light-hearted,  confident,  and  happy,  to  rouse 
my  companions,  that  they  also  might  feel  the  inspiring 
effect  of  the  beautiful  morning.  I  wanted  somebody  to 
talk  with,  to  discuss  the  hundred  half-formed  projects 
with  which  my  brain  already  teemed.  I  wanted  to  get  to 
work  again  on  some  new  line,  and  felt  that  no  moment 
should  be  lost.  I  went  to  the  door  and  called  them ; 
then  built  a  fire  and  put  the  kettle  on  for  coffee. 

When  Alice  Millward  came  down  to  the  fire,  radiant 
in  the  beauty  of  health  and  freshness,  her  cheek  flushed, 
her  beautiful  eyes  sparkling,  and  a  rebellious  tendril  of 
silken  hair  trembling  over  her  brow  in  the  breath  of 
the  morning,  I  so  looked  my  admiration  that  she 
instinctively  blushed.  I  turned  away,  busying  myself 
with  the  fire.  Somehow  I  could  not  help  whistling 
snatches  of  the  merry  air  that  had  been  running  in  my 
head  all  the  morning. 

She  caught  my  eye  presently  and  said  in  a  tone  of 
full  conviction,  "  Mr.  Morgan,  you  have  found  some  way 
of  getting  that  treasure.  I  know  you  have  by  your 
manner  this  morning." 

"  You  are  mistaken,  Miss  MiUjp&rd.  I  only  wish  you 
were  not.  The  fact  is  I  have  OKly  just  found  that  it  is 
possible  to  begin  again  calmly  JU>  think  and  plan.  But 
that  discovery  is  quite  enough"  to  cheer  one.  It  is  a 
good  deal  to  have  recovered  from  the  stunning  disap- 
pointment of  yesterday,  and  to  have  regained  com- 
posure and  confidence ;  for  that  is  equivalent  to 
regaining  one's  faculties.  Don't  you  think  so?  " 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  so,"  she  answered,  with  a  little  air 


206  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

of  thoughtfulness,  "  but  I  really  do  not  know ;  for  to 
speak  the  truth  I  do  not  think  I  felt  the  disappointment 
so  severely  as  either  you  or  father.  Of  course  I  was 
sorry,  but  then  you  see  I  was  not  so  deeply  interested, 
perhaps,  as  you  two  were." 

Mr.  Millward  now  came  up,  and  after  the  usual 
morning  greeting  said,  "  I  imagine  it  will  now  be  in 
order  to  begin  to  think  of  getting  back  to  civilization. 
Our  labors  here  seem  to  have  come  to  naught." 

"  No,"  said  I  with  some  heat,  "  I  shall  not  leave  until 
I  find  it  utterly  impossible  to  explore  that  sunken  hull. 
I  could  not  rest  comfortably  elsewhere  so  long  as  a  bit  of 
hope  was  left.  Of  course,"  I  added,  after  a  moment's 
pause,  "  I  cannot  ask  you  to  remain.  But  I  do  hope 
you  will  consent  to  stay  a  few  days  longer.  We  ought 
to  protect  the  wreck  from  destruction  in  some  way 
before  the  next  gale.  And  I  think  it  can  be  done." 

"But  how?"  said  he. 

"Ah,  that  is  the  question,  that  is  the  problem,"  I 
replied.  "  If  we  could  build  a  breakwater  across  the 
mouth  of  the  chasm  in  some  manner  the  hull  would 
lie  safely  where  it  is.  We  could  then  leave,  and  come 
back  with  divers  to  get  the  treasure  at  a  later  time." 

"  To  stand  the  shock  of  the  waves  which  will  dash 
through  that  place  in  a  gale  of  wind  from  the  right 
quarter,  your  breakwater  will  require  to  be  a  powerful 
structure.  And  the  building  of  it  would  be  an  engi- 
neering feat  of  no  small  magnitude,  I  take  it."  And 
the  old  man  shook  his  head  slowly,  as  though  to  say  he 
did  not  believe  it  possible. 

Even  as  he  was  talking,  however,  the  half-formed 
plan  which  had  been  floating  hazily  through  my  mind 
took  definite  shape.  The  chasm,  the  rocks,  the  swell 
and  waves  racing  through  were  all  so  pictured  in  my 
mind  that  there  was  no  need  to  go  again  and  look  at 


THE    WA  VES  IN  HARNESS.  2OJ 

the  place,  because  it  was  then  before  me  in  imagination 
as  vividly  as  though  I  actually  beheld  it.  The  remedy 
for  the  danger  was  clear  and  plain  to  my  mind.  I  went 
up  to  my  two  companions  and  taking  a  hand  of  each, 
said  as  earnestly  as  I  felt :  "  We  can  do  it.  I  see  how 
it  can  be  done.  It  is,  I  now  believe,  a  piece  of  rare 
good  luck  that  the  old  galleon  drifted  into  that  place. 
For  consider ;  if  she  had  struck  upon  the  open  beach 
she  would  inevitably  have  gone  to  pieces  in  the  break- 
ers, and  who  knows  whether  what  of  her  cargo  we  want 
would  have  washed  up  to  dry  land.  I  tell  you  now, 
and  believe  me  it  is  true,  fortune  has  favored  us." 

"  But  the  breakwater,"  said  the  old  man,  impatiently, 
"  how  can  we  construct  such  a  thing  ?  " 

"Very  well,"  said  I,  with  a  smile  and  an  air  of 
mystery,  "  you  shall  know ;  but  as  the  coffee  boils,  let  us 
have  breakfast,  and  we  will  discuss  it  over  our  coffee." 

"  I  am  quite  agreed  to  that,"  replied  he,  "  but  fear 
it  will  need  to  be  helped  out  by  all  the  aid  the  good 
coffee  can  give  it,  my  boy.  However,  I  am  open  to 
conviction.  You  have  done  wonders  in  getting  the 
wreck  where  she  is,  and  I  hope  you  may  be  right  in 
your  belief  that  the  berth  is  a  lucky  one." 

When  we  were  fairly  seated,  the  corn  bread  broken, 
and  the  steaming  hot  coffee  poured  out  by  the  hand  of 
Alice,  the  old  man  nodded  at  me  as  much  as  to  say, 
"  Now  fire  away." 

Alice  voiced  the  same  request  in  words,  saying : 
"  Now  give  us  your  great  plan,  Mr.  Morgan.  I  am 
sure  it  will  be  a  success.  How  will  you  construct  the 
breakwater  ?  " 

"  My  dear  Miss  Alice,  I  expect  to  induce  the  sea  to 
do  that  work  for  me  in  the  most  part.  I  shall  harness 
the  wild  waves  of  ocean  to  my  dirt  cart,  and  make  them 
labor  to  protect  the  old  hull  they  would  delight  to 


208  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

destroy."  And  I  calmly  filled  my  mouth  with  corn 
bread,  while  Mr.  Millward  looked  at  me  as  though  he 
feared  I  had  become  demented  by  the  recent  disap- 
pointment. There  was  silence  for  a  moment  or  two. 
Then,  looking  furtively  at  me,  he  said  :  — 

"  But  I  do  not  understand  how  you  expect  to  harness 
your  steeds,  even  if  such  unruly  creatures  were  willing 
to  work  for  us." 

"  Still,  you  will  confess  it  is  very  simple,"  I  said,  ora- 
cularly. "  We  have  only  to  offer  these  waves  work  they 
always  delight  in  doing,  and  you  may  be  sure  they  will 
work  day  and  night,  high  tide  and  low  tide,  to  get  it 
done,  and  when  it  is  accomplished  they  will  sigh  and 
moan  and  crash  and  roar  for  more.  That  is  the  cease- 
less, persistent  disposition  they  have,  and  the  harder  the 
wind  and  the  bigger  the  waves  the  quicker  will  the  work 
be  done.  My  plan  is  simply  this  :  to  get  the  waves  to 
work  throwing  up  sand  to  fill  that  chasm  and  bury  the 
wreck  if  necessary  in  sand.  If  it  is  buried  we  can  easily 
dig  it  out.  But  we  need  not  wait  for  the  entire  chasm 
to  be  filled.  It  will  be  enough  if  the  mouth  and  exit 
passage  are  filled.  Look  out  at  yonder  beach  and  see  the 
unruly  breakers  at  their  daily  task  of  throwing  up  tons 
and  tons  of  sand,  and  as  constantly  dragging  it  back 
again  that  they  may  have  more  of  their  delightful  occu- 
pation. You  have  only  to  throw  down  a  rock,  or  a 
branch,  or  some  obstacle  to  retain  the  sand  and  hold 
it  from  being  dragged  back,  and  it  will  presently  be 
buried  beneath  the  heap  which  it  has  retained." 

"I  see  what  you  mean,"  said  Mr.  Millward,  setting  down 
his  cup  of  coffee,  which  he  had  held  in  his  hand,  "but 
I  do  not  yet  understand  how  you  propose  to  prevent 
the  constant  scour  that  is  going  on  in  that  race-way. 
You  must  first  stop  that  scouring  action,  and  then  I 
agree  that  the  place  in  time  will  fill  with  sand." 


THE    WA  VES  IN  HARNESS.  20g 

Then  I  proceeded  in  detail  to  explain  how  by  cut- 
ting down  trees  and  throwing  them  into  the  mouth  of 
the  chasm  I  hoped  first  to  get  the  tops  buried  in  the 
sand,  and  then  by  adding  brush  and  branches  to  create 
finally  a  bar  of  sand  at  this  point,  which  could  be  con- 
stantly added  to  by  more  tree  tops  and  branches  and 
the  sand  cast  up,  until  it  was  as  high  as  the  waves  could 
reach.  Near  by  grew  mangrove  trees  in  a  little  lagoon. 
These  would  answer  our  purpose  as  well  as  any ;  they 
could  be  felled  into  the  water  and  floated  to  place. 

All  excitement  and  full  of  hope,  now  that  a  feasible 
plan  had  presented  itself,  we  discussed  the  matter  in  all 
its  bearings,  until  Mr.  Millward,  rising,  declared  we  must 
waste  no  more  time,  but  go  to  work  while  the  weather 
held  good.  There  was,  indeed,  no  time  to  lose,  as  a 
northeast  gale  meant  destruction  to  the  old  hulk,  if  it 
should  occur  before  the  guard  could  be  built. 

At  once  we  loaded  into  the  boat  blankets  and  a  sail 
for  shelter,  and  provisions  for  several  days,  including 
five  great  calabashes  of  water,  intending  to  camp  at  the 
point  so  as  to  be  near  our  work  while  the  present  danger 
should  continue.  By  nine  o'clock  we  were  out  of  the 
creek  and  under  way,  and  soon  reached  the  place  where 
we  intended  to  land.  We  moored  the  boat  in  safety 
under  shelter  of  the  rocks  to  the  west  of  the  point, 
where  she  would  be  safe  except  in  case  of  a  severe 
storm  ;  then  we  put  up  the  sail  that  we  had  brought  for 
a  tent,  and  landed  such  things  as  were  wanted  there, 
putting  Alice  as  usual  in  control  as  housekeeper. 

The  long  spar  which  we  had  used  to  connect  the  two 
triangles  of  our  lifting-frame,  we  found  beached  to  the 
west  of  the  rocks,  and  torn  lose  from  the  triangles, 
which  had  washed  away  and  disappeared.  It  was  Mr. 
Millward's  suggestion  that  we  could  utilize  this  piece  of 
timber  to  good  advantage  by  cutting  it  to  the  right 
14 


210  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

length,  and  wedging  it  across  the  mouth  of  the  chasm 
at  about  the  height  of  low  water,  for  the  butts  of  the 
trees  forming  the  abattis  to  rest  upon.  To  get  this  spar 
into  the  water  and  tow  it  around  to  the  mouth  of  the 
chasm  was  the  first  job  we  undertook.  For  this  pur- 
pose we  used  my  boat,  the  "  Mohawk,"  as  being  the  light- 
est to  row.  By  dinner  time  (about  one  o'clock)  we 
had  the  spar  sawed  off  and  dropped  down  between  the 
rocks,  where  it  wedged  itself,  as  the  wall  was  slanting  at 
each  side.  To  secure  it  more  firmly  in  place  we  re- 
sorted to  the  expedient  of  tying  a  great  stone  on  the 
end  of  a  line  and  dropping  it  down  on  the  spar  several 
times  at  each  end,  standing  for  this  purpose  on  the 
rocks  above.  We  kept  up  this  pile-driving  operation 
until  the  spar  began  to  splinter  slightly.  It  now  lay 
across  the  mouth  of  the  chasm  at  about  a  foot  above 
low  water,  so  firmly  wedged  in  place  that  no  wave  could 
displace  it,  unless  it  should  be  powerful  enough  to  break 
the  great,  tough  beam  in  twain,  which  was  not  very 
likely. 

After  dinner  we  took  my  boat  into  the  small  lagoon 
on  the  west  coast  near  the  north  point,  and  began  the 
other  branch  of  our  work  by  cutting  down  a  couple  of 
trees  which  stood  near  deep  water,  and  grew  in  the 
water  itself  on  branching  roots  uprising  in  a  complicated 
maze.  These  trees,  one  at  a  time  and  by  dint  of  hard 
work,  we  towed  out  into  the  sea  and  brought  round  to 
the  mouth  of  the  chasm.  Here  we  manoeuvred  until 
we  got  the  butt  end  pointed  at  the  spar,  and  then  let  go 
at  the  right  moment  so  that  the  swell  as  it  entered  the 
chasm  swept  the  tree  bodily  into  the  exact  place  we 
wanted  it  to  go,  the  butt  lying  on  the  wedged-in  spar, 
and  the  top  presented  to  the  waves.  To  weight  the 
top  down  and  make  it  sink  we  threw  into  the  branches 
several  heavy  rocks.  When  in  place  the  tree  lay  at  an 


THE    WA  VES  IN  HARNESS.  2 1 1 

angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees  with  the  horizon,  the 
butt  resting  on  the  spar,  and  the  branches  on  the 
bottom. 

I  had  some  fear  that  the  shock  of  the  tree  striking 
against  the  spar  might  dislodge  the  latter ;  but  it  had 
no  effect  of  that  kind,  the  spar  being  much  too  tightly 
wedged.  Moreover  the  chasm,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
narrowed  gradually  from  the  mouth  inward  as  well  as 
from  the  top  downward.  So  the  blows  of  the  waves  only 
served  still  further  to  tighten  the  spar  in  place.  We 
managed  to  get  the  two  trees  in  place  and  weighted 
with  rocks  before  we  were  called  to  supper  at  sunset. 
We  had  made  a  fair  start,  and  accomplished  a  good 
day's  work.  The  supper,  spread  on  the  ground  and 
eaten  by  firelight,  was  a  merry  meal,  though  we  were  very 
tired  and  glad  to  get  to  sleep.  We  needed  a  strong 
rope  that  had  been  left  at  Home  Creek,  and  I  con- 
cluded to  walk  there  along  the  beach  after  supper,  and 
sleeping  at  home  to  return  at  early  dawn  with  the  rope 
before  breakfast.  So  I  bade  my  companions  good- 
night and  started  down  the  beach.  The  way  was  easy, 
and  I  reached  the  house  in  little  over  an  hour  and 
turned  in  immediately  to  secure  a  much  needed  rest. 

When  I  returned  with  the  rope  in  the  morning,  as  I 
came  near  the  tent  and  while  it  was  still  hidden  from 
view  by  the  intervening  foliage,  I  heard  the  voices  of 
father  and  daughter  joined  in  a  hymn,  —  the  clear,  rich 
soprano  of  the  girl,  flute-like  and  full,  mingling  in  har- 
mony with  the  noble  baritone  of  the  old  man,  whose 
voice  was  still  unbroken  by  age.  I  paused  a  moment 
to  listen  to  the  wonderful  song  of  praise,  in  which  were 
mingled  the  deep  booming  bass  of  the  surf,  the  myriad 
voices  of  the  birds  trilling  an  accompaniment,  and  the 
interwoven  notes  of  the  hymn,  rising  and  falling  together 
in  sweet  accord,  —  and  my  own  heart  was  lifted  up  to 


212  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

the  great  Creator  to  whom  such  praise,  I  thought,  might 
prove  quite  as  acceptable,  as  though  sung  by  a  full- 
voiced  choir  beneath  cathedral  arches  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  the  majestic  chords  of  an  organ. 

When  the  strains  of  the  hymn  had  ceased  I  came  up, 
and  the  hearty  greeting  which  I  received  was  very 
pleasant.  Indeed,  the  friendly  sense  of  comradeship 
had  become  very  strong  among  us  all ;  and  I  have  no 
doubt  they  were  as  glad  to  see  me  after  this  short 
absence  as  I  truly  was  to  see  them. 

After  breakfast  Mr.  Millward  and  I  began  again  at  an 
early  hour  the  work  of  filling,  towing,  placing,  and 
weighting  the  trees.  This  day  we  placed  five  in  posi- 
tion. The  next  day  we  brought  and  placed  five  more, 
by  which  time  the  entire  mouth  of  the  chasm  was  so 
full  of  the  trunks,  branches,  and  twigs  that  we  could  get 
no  more  in  place.  The  fourth  day  of  our  labors  we 
spent  in  casting  loose  rocks  in  among  the  branches. 
The  fifth  day  we  passed  in  watching  this  chevaux  de 
frise  and  noting  the  effect  of  the  waves,  as  they  came 
frothing  through  the  mass  of  twigs  and  branches.  The 
structure  —  if  such  it  may  be  called  —  held  firmly  and 
broke  the  swell  completely. 

We  could  do  no  more.  The  remainder  of  the  work 
must  be  accomplished  by  the  waves  themselves  in  their 
own  time  and  way.  For  this  we  must  wait  their  pleas- 
ure. There  was  still  quite  a  strong  current  through  the 
chasm,  and  I  wished  very  much  that  this  could  be  les- 
sened, as  its  tendency  was  of  course  to  carry  through  a 
large  portion  of  the  sand  which  might  otherwise  be 
retained.  When  I  spoke  of  this  to  Mr.  Millward  he 
immediately  proposed  that  we  should  partly  fill  the 
narrow  exit  passage  with  rocks  and  limbs  to  check  this 
current,  and  on  the  sixth  day  we  began  this  job.  In- 
stead of  floating  whole  trees,  which  we  could  not  have 


THE    iVA  VES  IN  HARNESS.  2 1 3 

managed  to  get  into  place  without  the  aid  of  an  ingoing 
swell,  we  cut  and  carried  limbs  and  branches,  which, 
together  with  rocks,  were  thrown  down  from  above,  until 
the  end  of  the  exit  passage  was  a  frothing  mass  of  water 
struggling  through  the  tangle.  This  very  much  lessened 
the  current,  and  we  were  well  satisfied  with  the  work. 
That  evening  we  sailed  the  two  boats  back  to  Home 
Creek  and  moored  them  in  their  former  haven.  The 
next  day,  which  was  the  Sabbath,  we  spent  in  rest  at 
home,  leaving  the  waves  now  to  do  their  work,  and 
confident  that  no  harm  could  come  to  the  hulk  if  the 
fair  weather  would  continue  for  a  few  days  longer. 

In  the  morning,  while  we  were  seated  beneath  the 
shed,  Mr.  Millward  read  selections  from  the  Psalms,  in 
his  deep,  sonorous  voice  and  impressive  manner.  We 
joined  afterward  in  prayer  and  hymn,  and  when  this 
simple  service  was  over  I  started  with  Alice  for  a  walk 
on  the  beach  to  the  south,  while  Mr.  Millward  composed 
himself  for  a  comfortable  smoke  in  the  shade.  The 
walking  on  the  sand  just  above  the  reach  of  the  waves, 
and  yet  where  it  was  wet  by  an  occasional  toppling 
roller  that  came  spuming  up  the  slope  farther  than  its 
fellows,  was  excellent,  for  the  wetted  sand  was  hard  and 
firm,  and  cool  to  the  feet.  Everywhere  lay  fragments 
of  sea-weed,  shells,  and  the  curious  forms  of  sea  life  cast 
up  by  the  waves.  We  amused  ourselves  by  collecting 
specimens  of  the  many-tinted  weeds,  mosses,  and  fragile 
structures,  whether  vegetable  or  animal  I  know  not,  nor 
could  any  save  a  naturalist  draw  the  dividing  line. 
Alice  explained  how  these  delicate  forms  could  be 
spread  out  and  dried,  by  first  floating  them  in  water 
until  they  were  untangled,  and  then  lifting  them  out  by 
a  plate  of  glass  and  drying  them  on  paper. 

"  I  look  forward  now,"  said  she,  "  to  the  time  when 
we  shall  be  sailing  away  from  our  island  home,  and  I 


214  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

would  like  to  carry  with  me  something  by  which  to 
remember  this  beautiful  beach." 

"  Are  you  getting  tired  of  the  life,  Miss  Millward  ?  " 

"  Ah,  no,"  she  quickly  answered,  "  not  tired  of  it ; 
far  from  that.  It  seems  now  quite  like  a  home  to  me. 
You  must  remember  that  it  is  many  years  since  father 
and  I  have  remained  so  long  in  one  place  as  we  have 
been  here.  I  have  grown  quite  to  love  this  beautiful 
island.  And  the  work  and  the  life  is  a  real  pleasure  to 
me.  But  yet  I  fear  that  father  is  pining  to  be  back  to 
his  work,  or  to  civilization,  though  he  has  not  yet  said 
so  in  my  hearing.  It  is  hard,  you  know,  for  an  old  man 
to  change  his  habits." 

"  I  suppose  you  would  find  it  pleasanter  if  you  had 
some  one  of  your  own  sex  as  a  companion,"  said  I. 

"  Perhaps  so,"  thoughtfully,  "  but  I  have  never  had 
any  girl  friends,  you  know,  in  all  my  life ;  for  we  have 
been  here  in  this  region,  among  the  islands, 'since  I  was 
quite  a  child,  and  have  gone  about  from  place  to  place 
so  much  that  I  have  had  no  chance  to  meet  such  friends 
as  I  might  feel  like  making  my  companions.  The 
people  are  mostly  of  quite  another  religion  from  ours,  — 
those  who  are  white  I  mean,  —  and  though  I  have 
many  friends  among  the  colored  people,  the  Hindoos 
and  others,  the  friendship  has  not  made  me  any 
comrades.  Father  has  often  said  that  he  feared  it  was 
his  duty  to  send  me  north  among  people  of  my  own 
kind,  that  I  might  learn  better  what  life  in  this  world 
really  means.  But  I  think  I  do  know,  for  it  must  be 
much  the  same  everywhere ;  and  I  should  not  like  to 
leave  father  here  alone." 

The  thought  of  the  wandering  life  which  this  mother- 
less girl  had  led,  among  poor,  half-heathen  people, 
touched  me,  and  I  had  it  on  my  tongue  to  contrast  such 
an  existence  with  the  very  different  sort  of  surroundings 


THE    WAVES  IN  HARNESS. 

she  might  have  had  elsewhere.  But  why  should  I  do 
this?  Even  if  she  could  understand  it,  which  was 
doubtful,  no  good  could  come  of  creating  in  her  mind 
longing  and  discontent ;  though  I  honestly  believe  dis- 
content never  could  have  found  entrance  to  such  a 
candid  and  happy  mind,  no  matter  what  might  be  held 
up  for  her  imagination  to  consider. 

The  sun  soon  beat  down  with  fiery  rays,  and  I  cut 
for  her  a  leaf  of  fan  palm  to  form  a  sort  of  parasol. 
The  picture  she  made  in  her  light  dress,  against  the 
blue  sea  all  filled  with  glowing  brightness,  the  shade  of 
the  graceful  leaf  falling  upon  her,  will  live  long  in  my 
memory.  It  seemed  to  me  that  her  pure  soul  shone 
out  from  the  beautiful  eyes  that  now  and  again  met 
mine.  Rare  combination  of  something  that  seemed 
straight  from  heaven  with  what  was  sweetly  human  and 
of  our  earth ;  the  clear,  pure  spirit,  and  the  beautiful 
woman  glowing  with  health  and  filled  with  life  and  color 
and  made  for  human  love  —  was  there  ever  before, 
whispered  my  tortured  heart,  such  an  incomparable 
being  ?  Dare  I  speak  to  her  of  what  fills  my  mind  and 
soul?  No;  most  certainly  not. 

Now  in  point  of  fact  I  was  making  love  to  this  girl 
with  all  my  might,  and  did  not  know  it.  I  wooed  her 
all  unconsciously,  and  had  not  dared  to  woo  her  at  all. 
The  divine  passion,  I  have  since  been  told,  needs  no 
word  or  sign  ;  and  this  girl,  divinely  pure  and  yet  sweetly 
human,  inexperienced  as  she  was,  must  have  felt  that  I 
adored  her.  If  she  had  never  heard  of  the  love  of 
man  for  woman  —  and  most  likely  she  had  never  given 
it  a  thought  —  still  she  must  have  known  my  devo- 
tion to  her  quite  as  well  as  though  the  burning  words 
that  ever  kept  throbbing  up  from  my  heart  for  utterance 
had  passed  my  lips.  But  I  could  not  know.  And  so 
I  alternated  between  the  medium  plane  of  faint  hope 


2l6  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

and  the  cold  depths  of  despair.  I  conclude,  as  I 
now  look  back,  that  I  was  not  doing  so  badly  as  I 
then  thought. 

We  sat  down  on  a  rock  together  to  watch  the  little 
hermit  crabs,  each  with  a  stolen  shell  that  it  had  con- 
verted into  a  house,  now  peering  out,  now  drawing 
itself  in,  now  dragging  its  house  along  the  sand  in  search 
of  food  or  a  better  location,  —  funny  little  creatures,  that 
seem  to  link  the  spider  family  to  the  crabs.  Her  hand 
was  on  my  arm;  we  sat  close  together;  the  curved, 
flat  edges  of  the  spent  waves  nearly  reached  our  feet 
as  they  stole  up  the  sand  ;  the  solemn  sound  of  the  sea 
was  in  our  ears,  and  the  enchanting  song  of  a  first  love 
filled  my  heart. 

And  then  we  wandered  slowly  on  along  the  beach, 
now  and  then  compelled  by  a  higher  flow  to  step  aside ; 
we  examined  the  lovely  shells  that  lay  in  numbers  and 
great  variety  bleaching  on  the  margin  of  the  dry  sand, 
or  wetted  by  the  rising  water ;  the  little  skipping  sand 
borers ;  now  and  again  a  gaping  clam  or  hideous  sea 
slug  ;  dry  shells  of  the  great  horse-shoe  crabs ;  bladder- 
weed  and  ocean  tangle ;  and  all  the  wonderful  debris 
that  the  sea  casts  up.  Then  turning  in  toward  the 
land  we  came  among  the  tall,  graceful  stems  of  the 
cocoa-palm,  their  feathery  heads  trembling  and  rust- 
ling in  the  gently  stirring  air.  Here  we  found  in  a 
low  shrub  the  little  nest  of  one  of  those  diminutive  wag- 
tail wrens,  and  while  the  anxious  mother  fluttered  near, 
feigning  a  wound  or  inability  to  fly  in  order  to  draw  us 
away  from  her  precious  little  ones,  we  looked  at  the 
four  tiny,  gaping-mouthed  children  clad  in  down  and 
naked  helplessness,  until  the  distress  of  the  comical 
little  matron  induced  us  to  move  away  from  the  nest  in 
pity. 

We  found  too  the  purple  passion-flower  and  gaudy 


THE    WA  VES  IN  HARNESS.  2 1 7 

cactus  blossoms  bursting  out  in  showy  splendor  from 
thorn-armed,  fleshy  leaves,  bright-feathered  parrots  and 
parroquets,  a  little  humming-bird  that  bore  a  flashing 
jewel  in  his  breast  and  made  a  misty  halo  round  about 
him  with  his  rapid  wing,  beating  the  air  so  fast  that  it 
seemed  to  the  eye  a  faint  sphere  of  cloud. 

And  so  we  wandered  on  side  by  side,  talking  of  what 
we  saw.  I  parted  the  thorny  bushes  for  her  path, 
lifted  her  over  the  rocks  and  logs,  and  hand  in  hand 
we  crossed  the  grassy  open  where  I  had  gathered  seeds, 
now  ripe  again,  and  thus  came  finally  home,  as  the  sun 
stood  in  the  zenith. 

We  found  the  old  man  sleeping  peacefully  in  my 
hammock  under  the  shed,  with  Bible  in  hand  lying  open 
on  his  breast.  Duke  lay  on  the  ground  below  him, 
furtively  opening  an  eye  now  and  then,  though  without 
stirring  when  we  came  up.  On  the  fire,  now  burned 
nearly  out,  slowly  steamed  and  simmered  the  dinner 
stew,  whose  appetizing  odors  floating  to  us  apprised  us 
of  the  fact  that  we  were  very  hungry,  just  as  the  cool 
shade  told  us  we  were  very  warm,  and  the  inviting  arm- 
chairs suggested  that  we  were  really  tired. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

EMBAYED. 

WHEN  I  arose  shortly  after  dawn  the  next  morn- 
ing, it  was  with  no  small  degree  of  satisfaction 
that  I  found  the  sun  brightly  shining,  and  every  indica- 
tion present  of  a  continuance  of  the  fair  weather  and 
gentle  breezes  which  had  now  held  continuously  for  ten 
days.  Very  anxious  to  know  the  condition  of  the 
breakwater,  Mr.  Millward  and  I,  shortly  after  a  hearty 
breakfast  of  fish  freshly  caught,  started  for  a  walk  up 
the  beach  to  the  resting-place  of  the  galleon.  We  found 
no  apparent  change  in  the  condition  of  the  larger  break- 
water, —  the  one  across  the  mouth  of  the  chasm, —  but 
strangely  enough  the  smaller  one,  across  the  exit  pas- 
sage, had  so  far  silted  up  with  sand  as  to  form  an  al- 
most complete  obstruction  to  the  flow  of  a  current 
through  the  chasm  at  low  water.  Indeed,  the  sand  had 
almost  buried  the  branches  we  had  cast  in,  and  was 
risen  so  far  as  to  be  plainly  visible  just  below  the  sur- 
face of  the  water.  This  was  an  altogether  unexpected 
result,  and  it  now  looked  very  much  as  though  the  silt- 
ing and  filling  was  to  take  place  from  the  exit  back- 
ward to  the  mouth,  instead  of  from  the  mouth  as  we 
had  calculated.  However,  it  mattered  not  to  us  how 
the  capricious  waves  chose  to  do  their  work,  if  only  it 
were  done. 

We  had  brought  the  axe  along,  and  without  delay  we 
began  to  cut  and  pile  into  the  exit  passage  more  limbs 
and  branches  and  rocks,  until  the  place  was  full  to  a 


EMBAYED,  2ig 

level  somewhat  above  high-tide  mark.  To  facilitate  fur- 
ther the  formation  of  this  bank,  we  cast  many  branches 
into  the  waters  of  the  chasm  just  back  of  the  newly 
formed  sand-bar,  that  it  might  be  caused  if  possible  to 
rise  high  enough  to  prevent  any  through  current  and 
consequent  scouring  action  even  at  high  tide. 

We  tried  hard  to  ascertain  whether  the  sand  had 
begun  to  accumulate  at  the  breakwater  across  the 
mouth ;  but  were  unable  to  do  so  because  of  the  lack 
of  transparency  of  the  water,  which  held  in  suspension 
a  large  percentage  of  sand  and  foreign  matter  stirred 
up  by  the  swell.  We  both  expressed  our  confidence 
that  as  soon  as  the  current  through  the  chasm  was 
stopped,  the  sand  would  begin  to  silt  in  and  fill  up  the 
main  breakwater. 

It  was  two  hours  after  noon  when  we  returned  to  the 
house  again.  After  dinner  we  all  three  turned  to  the 
work  of  digging  sweet  potatoes  in  my  old  garden,  and  stor- 
ing them  under  the  shed.  All  the  crops  were  doing  finely 
and  we  found  some  green  Indian  corn  just  ripe  enough 
to  boil.  In  the  cool  of  the  evening  we  sat  under  the 
shed  to  watch  for  the  new  moon  to  rise,  discussing  the 
theory  and  probable  action  of  sand  deposit  by  waves. 

Mr.  Millward's  theory  — and  I  believe  it  to  be  the 
correct  one  —  was  that  the  sand  was  held  in  suspen- 
sion only  while  the  water  was  in  very  considerable  mo- 
tion ;  and  that  it  fell  to  the  bottom  almost  instantly 
when  the  motion  of  the  water  ceased.  He  likened  it 
to  stirring  sugar,  not  yet  dissolved,  in  a  glass  of  water. 
As  soon  as  the  stirring  stopped  the  sugar  fell  to  the 
bottom.  "  Thus,  for  example,"  he  explained,  "  when  a 
wave  comes  up  on  the  beach  in  front  of  us,  it  is  more 
or  less  charged  with  sand;  the  sand  is  deposited  just 
when  the  wave  has  spent  its  force  and  paused  before  the 
return  flow.  But,  of  course,  the  sand  so  deposited  on  the 


22O  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON, 

naked  beach  would  be  picked  up  again  and  carried 
back,  to  be  again  brought  up,  and  so  on  in  ceaseless 
round."  And  the  reason,  he  insisted,  why  the  sand 
gathered  at  the  last  breakwater  in  the  chasm  instead  of 
at  the  first  one,  was  simply  because  at  that  place  the 
current  and  consequent  motion  were  least. 

Each  morning  I  walked  up  the  beach  to  the  chasm, 
sometimes  alone  and  sometimes  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Millward.  In  two  days  the  breakwater  at  the  exit  was 
completely  covered  with  sand,  which  rose  above  the 
level  'of  high  tide,  and  the  sand  had  already  begun  to 
silt  into  the  chasm  back  of  the  exit.  On  the  third  day 
we  found  a  great  shark  embayed  in  the  chasm  and 
dashing  around  the  old  hull  every  little  while,  as  though 
in  a  flurry  of  excitement.  Each  time  a  wave  would 
break  in  he  would  endeavor  to  swim  out,  following  the 
retreating  water,  —  for  now  there  was  no  longer  a 
current  through,  —  but  the  trees  and  limbs  prevented 
him.  Mr.  Millward  said  he  seemed  like  an  evil  spirit 
set  to  guard  the  galleon  and  its  treasure ;  and  in- 
deed it  would  have  been  a  dangerous  thing  for  any 
one  to  attempt  exploration  of  the  wreck  while  this 
man-eating  sentinel  patrolled  the  narrow  water  where 
she  lay. 

The  sight  of  this  voracious  fish  reminded  me  very 
forcibly  of  the  great  danger  which  would  have  attended 
any  attempt  to  reach  the  hull  by  diving  when  the  gal- 
leon lay  out  in  the  sea.  Had  I  brought  my  diving-ap- 
paratus safely  to  the  island,  as  I  originally  intended  to 
do,  it  is  quite  possible,  and  even  probable,  that  I  should 
have  found  a  grave  among  the  gastric  fluids  of  some 
such  shark.  Strangely  enough,  in  all  the  many  times  I 
had  looked  at  the  wreck  through  the  water-glass  while 
it  lay  out  in  the  sea,  I  had  never  seen  a  single  shark, 
though  other  fish  had  been  visible  in  considerable  num- 


EMBAYED.  221 

bers  and  variety.  But  doubtless,  as  is  the  treacherous 
nature  of  this  tiger  of  the  sea,  he  was  lying  there  con- 
cealed and  instinctively  watching  the  boat  in  expecta- 
tion of  prey.  It  made  me  shudder  involuntarily  to 
think  of  the  possible  encounter  that  I  might  have  had. 
As  the  shark  imprisoned  in  the  chasm  was  no  present 
inconvenience  to  us,  we  allowed  him  to  remain  undis- 
turbed where  he  was. 

As  we  stood  on  the  rock  which  adjoined  the  shore, 
watching  the  frothing  of  the  surges  through  the  break- 
water at  the  mouth  of  the  chasm,  I  pointed  out  to  Mr. 
Millward  that  every  few  minutes,  at  intervals  of  about 
every  third  wave,  the  water  rushing  back  met  the  in- 
coming wave  exactly  at  the  breakwater  and  the  result- 
ing interference  produced  there  a  temporary  quiet  in 
the  waters. 

"Now,"  said  I,  in  reference  to  this  fact,  "if  your 
theory  is  right  we  ought  to  be  getting  a  discharge  of 
sand  at  the  breakwater  every  time  there  is  such  a  meet- 
ing of  the  waters  there." 

"  Of  course,"  said  he,  "  there  is  no  doubt  of  it ;  and 
we  shall  soon  be  having  a  bar  at  this  point.  Whether 
this  bar  will  rise  high  enough  to  stop  the  water  mater- 
ially from  coming  in  before  the  whole  chasm  has  silted 
full  of  sand  is  something  we  cannot  determine  except 
by  waiting  to  find  out  by  actual  test." 

"  Nor  does  it  greatly  matter,"  I  added,  "for  in  either 
event  the  galleon  would  be  safely  housed." 

The  weather  held  fair  for  a  week  longer,  and  at  the 
end  of  that  time  it  had  become  quite  evident  that  a 
bank  of  sand  was  steadily  forming  at  the  mouth  of  the 
chasm.  It  was  already  nearly  up  to  the  surface  at  low 
water,  so  that  the  inrush  of  water  was  very  small  com- 
pared with  what  it  had  been.  We  had  gone  up  to  the 
chasm  in  the  morning  as  usual,  and  then  again  in  the 


222  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

evening  of  the  same  day,  as  the  weather  was  very  threat- 
ening and  the  heat  intense,  and  a  glassy  calm  was  on 
the  sea,  which,  almost  devoid  even  of  a  swell,  spread 
out  in  a  flat,  metallic-looking  plain  with  scarcely  a 
wrinkle.  A  storm  was  surely  brewing,  and  we  might 
expect  it  that  night  or  the  following  day  at  latest. 
But  as  there  was  nothing  to  do,  except  to  wait  its 
arrival  and  abide  the  result,  I  only  went  to  the  chasm 
to  satisfy  my  curiosity.  When  I  arrived,  an  hour  or 
two  before  sunset,  and  examined  the  place  carefully,  I 
thought  the  galleon  would  probably  be  safe,  unless  the 
surge  became  so  heavy  as  to  sweep  the  breakwater  out 
on  its  return  flow.  Mr.  Millward  was  of  the  same 
opinion. 

About  midnight  that  night  I  was  wakened  by  a 
tremendous  crash  of  thunder.  The  sky  was  black  with 
heavy  clouds,  lit  up  at  short  intervals  by  the  lightning, 
and  it  had  already  begun  to  rain.  Owing  to  the  heat, 
I  had  been  sleeping  in  my  hammock  at  the  shed.  I 
immediately  got  up,  partly  dressed  myself,  and  carried 
my  hammock  to  the  house,  where  I  found  my  compan- 
ions both  wakened  by  the  thunder.  I  called  Duke  in 
and  secured  the  door,  expecting  a  heavy  rain,  which 
speedily  came  down  with  a  rush  and  steady  roar  upon 
the  thatched  roof.  The  wind  followed  from  the  old 
quarter,  the  northeast,  and  soon  became  almost  a  gale, 
beating  and  driving  the  rain  against  the  walls  in  angry 
gusts. 

Mr.  Millward  and  I,  talking  through  the  darkness, 
speculated  on  the  probable  result  to  the  galleon ;  but 
being  unable,  of  course,  to  reach  any  satisfactory  con- 
clusion, we^dropped  finally  to  sleep,  thus  forgetting  our 
worry  and  anxiety. 

In  the  morning,  after  a  cold  breakfast,  without  coffee, 
—  for  the  fire  was  out,  everything  in  the  way  of  fuel  was 


EMBAYED.  22$ 

wet,  and  there  was  no  sun  visible,  —  I  started  for  the 
chasm.  Breasting  the  stiff  gale,  which  was  accompanied 
by  spits  and  dashes  of  rain,  I  made  my  way  along  the 
beach,  full  of  apprehension  as  I  saw  the  huge  rollers 
come  crashing  in,  and  the  heavy  swell  that  had  been 
raised  by  the  gale.  When  I  came  to  the  north  cape, 
and  the  rocks  forming  the  chasm  were  in  sight,  the 
scene  was  indeed  one  of  grandeur,  and  my  worst  fears 
seemed  to  have  good  grounds.  The  tremendous  swell 
running  in  against  the  rocks  broke  with  a  thunderous 
noise ;  the  spray  flew  high  in  the  air,  and  was  blown 
apparently  clear  over  the  rocks. 

I  had  hurried  along  thus  far  as  rapidly  as  I  could 
travel  against  the  strong  wind ;  but  now  I  hesitated, 
dreading  to  go  far  enough  to  see  what  had  happened 
to  the  galleon.  However,  no  good  could  come  of 
waiting,  so  I  plunged  ahead  and  soon  came  to  the  rock 
which  joined  the  shore,  and  ascended  it  that  I  might 
have  a  fair  view  of  the  chasm.  I  found  that  the  chasm 
no  longer  existed  as  we  had  known  it.  Instead  of  an 
open  race-way  through  which  the  current  rushed,  or 
into  which  the  rollers  broke,  there  was  now  a  peaceful 
little  pool,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  galleon  was  dimly 
visible,  sunk  some  feet  below  the  surface.  The  water 
in  this  pool  was  not  very  clear ;  for  every  few  minutes 
a  mighty  shower  of  spray  flung  on  high  fell  like  rain 
upon  its  surface,  and  the  rocks  all  about  were  drenched, 
and  covered  with  little  rivulets.  Even  the  spot  where 
I  stood  was  not  exempt,  but  I  took  the  wetting  with 
cheerful  fortitude  under  the  circumstances.  Both 
breakwaters  were  completely  covered  with  sand.  The 
one  at  the  mouth  was  almost  like  a  sand-hill,  and 
reached  nearly  to  the  stem  of  the  galleon,  but  was  so 
drenched  by  the  falling  spray  that  I  did  not  care  to  go 
upon  it.  The  one  at  the  rear,  or  exit,  was  far  enough 


224  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

away  so  that  the  spray  did  not  fall  upon  it  to  any  great 
extent,  and  I  therefore  climbed  down  upon  it  to  see  how 
firm  it  was.  I  was  very  certain  no  one  seeing  this  bank 
of  sand  would  have  imagined  how  it  had  been  made. 
There  was  no  indication  whatever  that  the  hand  of  man 
had  had  anything  to  do  with  its  construction.  It 
looked  quite  as  though  the  sand  had  lain  there  for 
ages.  The  waves  had  done  their  work  most  thoroughly, 
and  the  aged  hulk  now  rested  in  a  quiet,  land-locked 
harbor,  as  safe  and  secure  from  the  sea  as  though  it 
were  in  a  dry  dock. 

Wet  through  by  rain  and  spray  combined,  but  elated 
and  in  the  highest  of  spirits  at  the  condition  of  our  work, 
I  hastened  back  as  fast  as  my  feet  would  carry  me, 
helped  on  by  the  wind  now  at  my  back,  to  convey  the 
joyful  intelligence  to  my  companions.  Duke,  who  had 
accompanied  me,  seemed  to  read  my  satisfaction  in  my 
face  and  actions,  for  he  bounded  along  frisking  and 
barking  as  though  the  whole  thing  were  a  grand  frolic. 
When  I  came  to  the  creek  he  had  already  run  on  ahead 
to  the  house,  so  that  Mr.  Millward  and  Alice  were 
apprised  of  my  return,  and  were  at  the  door  looking  for 
me  as  I  came  up  to  the  house. 

"What  news  do  you  bring?"  asked  the  old  man, 
anxiously. 

"  The  best  of  good  news,"  cried  I,  "  the  very  best  of 
good  news  !  The  galleon  is  safely  and  snugly  at  rest  in 
a  basin  where  a  tornado  could  not  reach  it." 

"  Well,  that  is  good  ! "  said  the  old  man,  fervently. 

"  Excellent !  "  echoed  the  daughter,  and  added,  solici- 
tously, "but  you  are  very  wet,  Mr.  Morgan,  and  you 
must  change  your  garments  at  once.  It  will  never  do 
to  have  the  courier  who  brings  such  good  tidings  take 
harm  by  his  journey." 

After  I  had  gone  into  my  little  sleeping-place  and  put 


EMBAYED.  22$ 

on  dry  clothing,  we  sat  down,  and  I  had  to  describe 
minutely  what  I  had  seen.  We  then  went  into  general 
committee  to  discuss  ways  and  means  for  getting  at  the 
cargo  of  the  sunken  hull.  Mr.  Millward  was  for  setting 
sail  at  the  first  favorable  wind  for  Martinique  to  get 
divers  and  return  with  them.  But  I  could  not  bring 
myself  to  agree  to  leaving  the  galleon  to  chance  for  so 
long  a  time  as  that  might  require.  We  had  already 
successfully  overcome  so  many  difficulties  that  those 
remaining  seemed  trifling  in  comparison ;  though  I  am 
free  to  confess  that  just  how  we  were  to  get  at  the 
contents  of  the  hull  was  not  at  all  clear  to  my  mind  at 
that  time. 

We  had  discussed  the  situation  a  long  time,  and  as  I 
had  nothing  to  offer  but  mere  resistance  and  unwilling- 
ness to  leave,  I  felt  that  the  old  gentleman  was  gradu- 
ally getting  the  better  of  the  discussion,  and  had  fairly 
driven  me  to  the  last  ditch,  when  Alice  came  to  my 
assistance  with  a  suggestion  that  supplied  a  new  stock 
of  ammunition  to  my  retreating  forces. 

The  dear  girl's  suggestion  was  in  these  words,  "  Why 
don't  you  pump  the  water  out  of  the  basin  and  leave  the 
galleon  dry  ?  " 

Why,  indeed?  What  was  to  hinder?  It  would  be 
difficult  to  make  an  air-pump,  but  not  at  all  difficult  to 
contrive  some  sort  of  water-raising  device. 

"  Thanks,  fair  Alice,  for  the  idea.  It  rehabilitates 
me,"  thought  I ;  and  meeting  her  eyes  I  added  aloud, 
"You  have  hit  upon  the  very  idea,  Miss  Alice.  We  can 
get  the  water  out  of  that  basin  with  far  less  trouble  than 
a  voyage  to  Martinique  and  return  would  cost." 

The  old  man  was  silent. 

Turning  to  him  I  said,  "Your  daughter  deserves 
our  warmest  thanks,  Mr.  Millward,  for  this  suggestion. 
Now  we  have  only  to  contrive  some  water-lifting  device, 


226  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

and  we  can  set  to  work  on  the  final  task.  What  do  you 
say?" 

"  I  say  that  if  it  is  feasible  I  will  stay  of  course." 

We  discussed  all  the  water-raising  contrivances  we 
had  ever  heard  of,  from  the  primitive  Egyptian  shadoof 
—  a  bucket  on  a  balanced  pole  —  to  the  rotary  steam- 
pump.  But  steam-pumps  were  not  to  be  had,  and  it 
was  aggravating  to  think  about  them.  However,  I  went 
conscientiously  through  the  entire  list,  and  was  listened 
to  most  patiently.  It  chanced  that  among  other  devices 
there  was  one  I  had  heard  of  as  being  used  in  India  by 
the  natives  to  raise  water  for  irrigation.  It  consisted  of 
a  wheel  to  which  were  suspended  a  number  of  gourds. 
Mr.  Millward  at  once  remembered  seeing  these  very 
machines  in  use,  and  told  how  he  had  witnessed  the 
breech-clouted  coolies  toiling  with  them  on  the  banks 
of  the  rivers.  He  immediately  agreed  that  we  could 
easily  build  such  a  machine,  and  that  it  would  accom- 
plish the  work. 

"  The  amount  of  water  raised  in  a  day  from  the  river 
with  one  of  these  rude  machines  and  poured  into  the 
irrigating  canal  by  the  efforts  of  a  single  native  work- 
man is  truly  astonishing,"  said  he.  After  thinking  a 
moment  he  added,  "  But  you  overlook  one  thing,  Mr. 
Morgan.  These  machines  are  only  adapted  to  lifting 
water  from  a  river  or  other  source  of  supply  which 
remains  at  or  near  a  constant  level.  Now,  here  the 
water  to  be  lifted  will  be  getting  constantly  lower,  and 
as  it  falls  the  wheel  also  must  be  lowered  and  would 
soon  be  so  low  that  it  would  no  longer  bring  the  gourds 
high  enough  to  discharge  their  contents  above  the 
breakwater.  You  see  that,  do  you  not?" 

In  truth,  I  had  not  seen  it  at  all.  But  when  the 
difficulty  was  thus  suggested  it  was  plain  enough  that 
such  a  wheel  would  never  do  for  what  we  wanted.  I 


EMBAYED. 

did  not  answer  this  most  pertinent  suggestion,  for  the 
very  good  reason  that  it  could  not  be  controverted. 
The  wheel  idea  was  quite  out  of  the  question. 

After  a  little  while  he  resumed  by  saying,  "But  I 
have  also  seen  a  modification  of  the  same  sort  of 
machine,  in  which  the  gourds  were  attached  to  an  end- 
less rope  instead  of  to  the  wheel  itself.  This  device  is 
used  by  the  same  people  where  the  water  is  to  be  raised 
to  a  greater  height  than  can  conveniently  be  done  with 
the  wheel.  I  think  we  might  possibly  make  such  a 
modification  work  successfully." 

"  Can  you  recall  how  this  modification  was  con- 
structed?" said  I,  anxiously. 

"  Perhaps  I  can  recall  enough  to  enable  you  to  get 
the  idea,"  he  replied,  throwing  back  his  head  and  clos- 
ing his  eyes  in  the  effort  to  remember.  "Yes,"  said 
he,  after  a  little  reflection,  "  I  think  I  can.  I  remem- 
ber the  general  features  very  well  indeed.  However, 
the  most  vivid  recollection  I  have,  connected  with 
these  machines,  is  the  hideous,  creaking  screech  of 
their  ungreased  axles  as  they  were  turned  hour  after 
hour  all  through  the  hot  summer  nights,  the  natives 
'spelling'  one  another  at  the  work.  How  well  I 
remember  the  dry,  hot  nights  when  I  lay  listening  to 
these  sounds  from  far  and  near.  You  could  easily  tell 
when  the  laboring  coolie  was  tired  by  the  gradual  slow- 
ing of  his  machine  and  the  lengthening  of  the  interval 
between  screeches.  Then  a  fresh  man  mounted  the 
treadmill  and  the  screeches  quickened ;  and  so  these 
monotonous  alternations  continued  through  the  still 
night." 

After  a  few  reminiscences  of  his  old  life  in  India  the 
old  man  proceeded  to  give  a  description  of  the  machine 
as  nearly  as  he  could  recall  it.  It  consisted  of  a  drum, 
or  skeleton  wheel,  about  six  teet  in  diameter,  mounted  on 


228  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

a  platform  over  the  water ;  each  end  of  the  drum  over- 
hung the  platform  and  carried  an  endless  rope,  to  which 
open-mouthed  gourds  were  tied  at  regular  intervals. 
The  drum  was  revolved  by  stepping  on  its  bars  as  in  a 
treadmill.  The  gourds  were  carried  down  into  the 
water  empty  and  brought  up  full  by  the  endless  rope.- 
Troughs  at  each  side  received  the  water  as  the  gourds 
tipped  to  return.  In  short,  it  was  a  sort  of  chain-pump, 
or  modification  of  that  well-known  device.  From  his 
description,  aided  by  my  own  imagination  and  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  result  sought,  I  was  able  to  reconstruct 
in  my  mind  this  machine,  or  at  least  to  see  how  one 
could  be  built  that  I  conceived  would  answer  the 
purpose.  We  agreed  that  we  would  start  at  this  work 
as  soon  as  the  weather  was  pleasant  enough  to  be  out  of 
doors  with  reasonable  comfort. 

It  was  very  tedious  to  be  without  any  fire  or  means 
of  obtaining  one  during  the  rain.  The  house  was  get- 
ting damp  ;  we  missed  our  hot  coffee ;  cold  victuals 
were  not  pleasant,  and  our  supply  of  cooked  food  was 
about  gone,  so  that  if  the  rain  continued  we  should 
speedily  be  reduced  to  raw  bacon  and  cocoanuts.  As 
the  leaden  sky  gave  no  immediate  promise  of  sunshine, 
Mr.  Millward  and  I  concluded  to  try  our  hand  at  pro- 
ducing fire  by  friction.  For  this  purpose  we  attached 
a  piece  of  hard  wood  to  the  final  shaft  of  the  old 
fanning-mill,  and  setting  it  in  rapid  motion  held  a  piece 
of  soft  wood  against  it  as  it  revolved.  I  turned  the 
crank  while  he  held  the  wood.  It  presently  began  to 
char  and  smoke,  but  no  fire  came,  though  I  ground 
away  until  the  sweat  poured  off  my  body.  We  were 
about  to  give  it  up  as  a  bad  job,  when  Mr.  Millward 
hit  upon  the  idea  of  rasping  off  a  quantity  of  fine  wood- 
dust  by  grinding  a  piece  of  wood  on  the  end  of  the 
iron  shaft  itself.  When  he  had  collected  some  of  this 


EMBAYED.  2  29 

and  sprinkled  it  into  the  hot,  smoking  cavity  of  the  soft- 
wood stick  the  motion  soon  caused  the  light  material  to 
catch  fire,  and  we  were  speedily  rewarded  with  a  glow- 
ing coal  from  which  we  were  able  to  start  the  fire, 
which  you  may  be  certain  was  not  permitted  to  go  out 
again.  I  very  quickly  had  a  hot  fire  in  the  oven,  one 
near  the  shed  out  of  doors,  and  a  third  in  the  fireplace 
of  the  house.  With  fire,  life  became  speedily  more 
endurable. 

The  comforting  and  cheering  influence  of  an  open 
fire,  the  sight  of  the  blaze  or  the  glowing  coals,  is  a 
mysterious  thing,  and  is  not  to  be  explained  by  the 
mere  personal  comfort  due  to  the  warmth,  for  a  close 
stove  or  a  steam  coil  will  give  that  as  well  and  perhaps 
better  and  more  equably.  There  is  an  instinctive 
something  deep  down  in  the  heart  of  man  that  responds 
to  the  open  fire,  and  makes  it  act  like  a  tonic  on  the  dis- 
position. This  feeling  is  common  apparently  to  all  man- 
kind. Everybody  alike,  old  or  young,  rich  or  poor,  is 
cheered  by  the  glow  and  blaze  of  the  fireside,  the  crackle 
of  the  burning,  the  sight  of  the  flames  on  the  hearth. 
Men  who  have  been  brought  up  from  childhood  to  live  in 
houses  heated  by  the  modern  steam,  hot-water,  or  hot-air 
apparatus,  or  have  lived  in  the  tropics  where  fires  for 
warmth  are  rarely  if  ever  needed,  no  sooner  approach 
the  blazing  hearth  than  they  feel  its  cheering  influence. 
I  have  thought  sometimes  that  the  explanation  might  be 
found  in  heredity,  — in  a  deep-seated  habit  of  the  human 
mind  descending  from  parent  to  child  through  countless 
ages  and  generations.  Far  back  of  history,  in  the  dim 
twilight  of  primitive  life,  we  may  imagine  our  ancestors 
living  in  such  wildness  as  can  scarcely  be  found  on 
earth  to-day  even  among  the  lowest  savages ;  and  we 
can  picture  the  primitive  hunter  returning  exhausted 
from  the  chase  to  seek  his  rest  and  comfort  by  the  open 


230  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

fireside.  By  the  fireside  he  rests,  by  the  fireside  he 
eats,  here  he  meets  his  family,  here  in  his  nakedness  he 
is  warm,  here  are  all  his  joys  and  loves  and  comforts. 
Every  pleasure  and  every  comfort  are  directly  associated 
with  the  sight  of  the  glowing  embers  and  the  bright, 
leaping  blaze.  And  this  has  been  going  on  through 
thousands  and  thousands  of  years.  When  Nature  so 
impresses  their  habits  upon  her  creatures  that  the  dog, 
ages  after  it  has  become  domesticated,  will  yet  run 
round  and  round  before  lying  down  on  a  carpet,  be- 
cause its  wild  ancestors  did  so  in  order  to  flatten  the 
tall  grass  in  which  they  slept,  is  it  too  much  to  believe 
that  man  should  have  kept  the  habit  of  associating 
comfort  with  the  sight  of  an  open  fireside? 

Whatever  may  be  the  true  explanation,  the  fact  was 
that  the  glowing  fire  in  the  chimney  cheered  our  hearts, 
and  made  us  merry,  as  we  sat  laughing  and  talking  and 
joking,  and  listening  to  the  old  man's  tales  that  night ; 
and  this  pure  delight  was  not  in  any  wise  lessened  by 
the  moaning  of  the  wind  and  the  intermittent  dash  of 
the  rain  upon  the  walls  and  roof.  We  three  and  Duke, 
in  a  sociable  semi-circle  lighted  only  by  the  flickering 
rays  of  the  fire,  enjoyed  the  shelter,  the  homelike  sense 
of  comfort,  and  the  quiet  of  perfect  content  that  night, 
and  it  seemed  to  all,  I  doubt  not,  as  it  did  to  me,  a 
pity  that  the  hour  of  bedtime  should  come  around  to 
break  up  so  pleasant  a  party. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    PEARL-FISHERS. 

FOR  two  days  longer  the  rain  continued,  and  then 
with  a  gentle  southerly  breeze  the  sky  cleared 
and  the  sun  came  out  again,  lighting  up  once  more  the 
land  and  sea  and  releasing  us  from  the  confinement 
indoors,  which  had  begun  to  grow  irksome.  Of  course 
the  first  thing  to  be  done  was  for  all  three  of  us  to  be 
ferried  over  the  creek  and  to  walk  up  the  beach  to  the 
galleon.  The  two  sand-banks  were  now  dry  and  the 
water  in  the  basin  was  quite  clear  and  transparent,  so 
that  the  hull  was  plainly  visible,  the  raised  poop  and 
forecastle  being  only  about  three  or  four  feet  under  the 
surface.  All  her  masts  and  spars  had  fallen  and  disap- 
peared long  ago.  A  cluster  of  corals  seemed  to  indi- 
cate where  the  foremast  once  had  stood.  A  curious 
thing  was  the  appearance  of  a  single  pane  of  glass 
which  was  visible  in  the  side  of  the  cabin.  This  pane 
had  changed  its  transparent  quality  to  a  milky  condi- 
tion of  pearly  irridescence,  and  shone  under  water 
like  a  gem  as  it  caught  and  reflected  the  light  from 
above. 

This  vessel  never  could  have  been  noted  for  speed,  I 
thought,  as  the  hull  appeared  to  be  a  regular  tub,  with 
high  bows  and  stern,  a  great  breadth  of  beam,  and  a  low 
mid-deck  or  waist  where  lay  the  green  remains  of  what 
had  once  been  four  brass  carronades.  When  sailing 
close-hauled  she  probably  went  to  leeward  faster  than 
she  drew  ahead.  Doubtless  such  was  the  ancient  fash- 


232  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

ion  of  ships,  and  it  accounts  for  the  fact  that  the  old 
voyagers  were  sometime  wind-bound,  until  the  green 
moss  and  weeds  grew  plentiful  on  their  hulls,  and  the 
water  and  provisions  gave  out,  and  the  dreadful  scurvy 
came  to  sweep  away  half  the  crew.  I  could  picture 
this  lumping  old  craft  as  she  might  have  looked  when 
the  old  admiral  commanded  her  beneath  the  broad  flag 
of  Spain,  —  her  crowded  decks,  her  tall  masts,  the  gor- 
geous array  of  bright-colored  garments  worn  by  the 
dusky  grandees  who  were  on  board,  the  images  of  the 
saints,  the  crucifix  at  thfe  wheel,  the  shaven  priest,  and 
all  the  pomp  and  ceremony  that  attended  her  clumsy 
progress  to  strange  ports. 

I  knew  the  history  of  her  last  voyage  well.  I  knew  how 
she  had  twice  rounded  Cape  Horn  and  stanchly  buf- 
feted the  storms  of  two  oceans ;  of  the  troops  she  had 
landed,  the  treasure  she  had  taken  up,  and  the  final 
scene  when  with  sails  set  and  colors  flying  she  sank  be- 
neath the  waves.  Long  ago  every  soul  who  then  lived 
had  gone  to  the  other  world ;  the  admiral,  his  officers 
and  his  crew,  the  king  and  queen  and  all  their  court 
were  now  returned  to  dust.  Yet  here  lay  the  fabric  of 
teak  and  oak,  still  strong  and  stanch  and  enduring,  and 
the  store  of  gold  that  I  hoped  to  get.  Were  the  shades 
of  these  departed  ones  aware  that  a  heretic  was  plan- 
ning and  contriving  to  get  the  long  sunken  treasure,  so 
much  of  which  had  been  once  designed  for  the  coffers 
of  the  holy  mother  Church? 

We  made  a  careful  survey  of  the  basin,  and  selected 
the  lesser  bank  of  sand,  that  forming  the  breakwater  at 
the  narrow  end  of  the  chasm,  as  a  suitable  site  for  the 
pumping-apparatus.  Mr.  Millward  pointed  out  to  me 
the  fact  that  the  water  stood  higher  in  the  basin  than 
the  then  level  of  the  sea,  —  a  proof,  he  insisted,  that  the 
water  did  not  percolate  to  any  considerable  extent 


THE  PEARL-FISHERS.  233 

through  the  firmly  packed  sand.  This  was  a  highly 
important  fact  to  us.  Had  it  been  otherwise  we  never 
could  have  hoped  to  pump  the  basin  dry,  or  below  the 
sea  level. 

With  a  line  we  took  some  measurements  which  we 
expected  to  need,  and  then  set  out  on  our  return  to  the 
house. 

As  a  matter  of  convenience  we  decided  to  build  the 
water-raising  machine  complete  and  set  it  up  and  test 
it  at  the  creek  near  the  house,  where  we  could  be  near 
such  domestic  comforts  as  we  possessed ;  after  which 
we  could  load  it  on  the  boat  and  convey  it  to  the 
chasm.  And  this  work  we  set  about  at  once.  As  I 
have  already  indicated  what  this  machine  was  to  be  I 
need  not  here  again  detail  minutely  its  construction. 
The  wheel  we  made  chiefly  of  stout  bamboo,  the  water- 
troughs  of  hollowed  logs ;  the  bearings,  in  deference  to 
Mr.  Millward's  recollection  of  the  uncouth  screeching 
of  the  machine's  Indian  predecessors,  we  supplied  lib- 
erally with  grease.  In  ten  days  the  thing  was  complete 
and  set  up  at  the  creek  for  trial,  —  troughs,  platform, 
and  all.  I  had  arranged  that  the  water  might  flow 
from  the  troughs  into  a  ditch  leading  to  our  garden 
to  irrigate  the  growing  crops. 

When  all  was  ready  I  mounted  the  wheel,  and  like  a 
horse  in  a  treadmill  (perhaps  a  better  simile  would  be 
like  a  hod-carrier  climbing  an  endless  ladder)  began  to 
turn  it.  Up  came  the  full  gourds,  splashing  the  water 
at  quick  intervals  alternately  into  the  two  troughs, 
whence  it  flowed  down  to  the  ditch  in  tinkling  rills, 
steadily  and  continuously,  as  long  as  I  chose  to  keep 
up  the  ladder-climbing  action.  It  was  going  to  prove 
rather  hard  work,  I  fancied ;  but  nevertheless  it  was 
a  perfect  success,  as  I  was  continually  lifting  more  than 
half  my  own  weight  in  water  with  as  little  exertion  as 


234  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

could  have  been  required  to  accomplished  that  result. 
Then  Mr.  Millward  tried  his  footing  on  the  machine ; 
and  finally  we  had  to  help  up  Alice  to  try  it  in  turn. 
Altogether  it  was  unanimously  pronounced  a  grand  suc- 
cess, and  we  only  waited  for  a  fair  wind  that  we  might 
take  it  down  and  embark  it  for  the  chasm.  Unfortu- 
nately for  our  patience,  the  wind  veered  around  into  the 
northeast  again,  and  was  quite  too  heavy  to  allow  us  to 
make  the  voyage  with  safety,  as  the  rollers  came  tum- 
bling in  over  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek  at  such 
rate  that  there  would  be  great  danger  of  swamping  the 
boat  in  any  endeavor  we  might  make  to  get  outside. 

I  was  so  impatient  at  this  delay  that  I  had  half  a 
mind  to  take  the  machine  apart  and  attempt  to  carry  it 
piecemeal  overland.  But  it  was  useless  to  repine  over 
the  inevitable.  It  was  not  probable  that  I  should  gain 
an  hour  of  time  by  undertaking  to  lug  the  machine 
overland,  and  I  should  simply  have  a  great  labor  for 
naught.  There  was  therefore  nothing  to  do  but  to  pos- 
sess our  souls  with  patience  and  await  the  issue. 

Aside  from  the  wind,  which  blew  half  a  gale,  the 
weather  was  pleasant,  and  the  sun  shone  warm  and 
bright.  As  we  had  nothing  better  to  do,  it  was  agreed 
that  we  should  make  an  overland  excursion  to  the  old 
plantation  for  the  purpose  of  getting  some  fresh  fruit. 
One  morning  early,  after  a  good  breakfast,  we  ferried 
over  the  creek  and  started  with  light  hearts  and  in  holi- 
day spirits  up  the  beach,  the  wind  blowing  stiffly  and 
the  breakers  crashing  in  beside  us.  I  assisted  Alice 
Millward  with  my  arm,  for  the  breeze  was  strong  enough 
to  make  walking  against  it  difficult  for  a  woman.  With 
bowed  heads  we  beat  slowly  along  until  we  reached  the 
hog  path,  and  were  glad  to  turn  into  it  and  get  under 
shelter  of  the  vegetation,  which  broke  the  wind  and 
made  progress  comfortable.  Neither  of  my  compan- 


THE  PEARL-FISHERS.  235 

ions  had  ever  been  over  this  road  before,  and  I  ex- 
plained what  might  be  expected  from  moment  to  mo- 
ment as  we  advanced.  When  we  came  to  the  cleft  in 
the  rocks  where  the  stream  came  through,  Alice  and 
her  father  were  delighted  with  the  romantic  and  pictur- 
esque beauty  of  the  place ;  the  bold,  precipitous  rocks, 
the  stream,  the  overarching  trees  growing  far  above,  the 
dense  beds  of  fern,  tall  and  feathery,  were  all  duly 
admired. 

When  we  emerged  into  the  north  valley,  we  found  a 
great  herd  of  pigs  that  scattered  and  ran  wildly  at  our 
approach.  I  managed  to  lasso  a  little  porker,  just  old 
enough  to  roast,  which  we  proposed  to  have  for  dinner. 
The  orange  grove  was  as  before  plentifully  laden  with 
oranges  in  all  stages  of  growth,  many  of  them  quite 
ripe,  a  delicious  refreshment.  We  soon  reached  the 
house,  and  building  a  fire  in  the  broad  fireplace  of  the 
kitchen,  spitted  the  porker  in  front  of  it,  and  leaving 
him  to  twirl  slowly  before  the  fire  on  a  twisting  cord, 
we  wandered  over  the  old  .garden  and  plantation, 
Alice  and  I  often  hand  in  hand.  I  felt  sure  that  she 
was  pleased  at  my  undisguised  attention  to  her  comfort, 
and  that  it  gave  her  pleasure  to  be  with  me ;  and  this  in 
turn  gave  me  unspeakable  delight. 

We  were  among  the  bananas  and  plantains  seeking 
some  of  the  latter  to  bake  as  an  accompaniment  for  our 
dinner  of  roast  pig,  when  I  heard  what  sounded  like  the 
distant  report  of  a  gun.  The  sound  was  so  faint  and 
distant  that  I  could  not  be  entirely  sure  of  my  impres- 
sions, until  I  had  asked  Alice,  — 

"Did  you  hear  that?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  replied,  "  it  sounded  as  though  somebody 
had  fired  a  pistol  far  away  over  yonder  on  the  high 
land." 

We  listened  intently  several  minutes  for  a  repetition  of 


236  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

the  sound,  but  as  we  heard  nothing  the  impression  soon 
passed  away  ;  for  our  conversation,  however  uninterest- 
ing it  would  seem  if  written  down,  was,  I  assure  you,  of 
most  absorbing  interest,  at  least  to  me,  though  we 
talked  of  nothing  in  particular,  and  like  children  laughed 
at  everything  out  of  mere  high  spirits.  We  went  now 
with  our  plantains  to  the  house,  where  Mr.  Mill  ward 
was  gone  to  look  after  the  roast.  He  came  out  to  meet 
us,  smiling  at  our  evident  enjoyment  as  he  heard  the 
merry  ringing  laughter  of  his  daughter,  over  some  non- 
sense or  other  I  had  been  putting  into  words.  As  we 
all  three  «tood  in  the  shadow  of  the  great  veranda,  upon 
its  brick  pavement,  between  the  joints  of  which  the  rank 
vegetation  was  sprouting,  I  heard  again,  and  this  time 
borne  on  the  wind  quite  distinctly,  two  shots  in  quick 
succession.  There  was  no  mistaking  the  sound  this 
time.  I  saw  instantly  in  the  faces  of  both  my  compan- 
ions that  each  had  heard  the  unusual  sound.  Mr. 
Millward  cried  quickly :  "  A  gun  !  who  can  be  firing  a 
gun  on  the  island?  "  « 

"What  can  this  mean?"  thought  I.  And  again  we 
listened,  but  there  was  no  repetition  of  the  report. 

"  Somebody  besides  ourselves  is  on  the  island,"  said 
Mr.  Millward. 

We  stood  now  looking  at  each  other  in  silence  for 
several  minutes.  My  mind  reverted  at  once  to  the 
pearl-fishers.  They  had  doubtless  returned,  and  the 
shots  we  had  heard  indicated  that  they  were  pig-hunting. 
The  same  thought  had  occurred  to  Mr.  Millward,  and  he 
immediately  expressed  his  fear  that  the  pearl-fishers  had 
come  back.  Indeed,  it  did  not  need  any  great  power  of 
divination  to  determine  this,  because  the  chances  were 
as  a  hundred  to  one  against  any  other  visitors.  All  the 
picnic  and  holiday  hilarity  of  our  excursion  was  over. 
We  were  full  of  anxiety  and  care  at  once.  The  proba- 


THE  PEARL-FISHERS, 

bility  was  that  we  had  neighbors,  of  a  most  undesirable 
character,  —  lawless  adventurers  who  would  have  small 
respect  and  consideration  for  us  if  we  stood  in  their 
way,  or  even  if  they  thought  so.  If  they  discovered 
that  we  had  surprised  their  secret  it  was  impossible  to 
say  what  they  might  do.  I  had  often  thought  of  the 
contingency  which  now  apparently  presented  itself,  and 
had  cogitated  much  and  to  no  purpose  as  to  what  I 
should  do  when  it  arose.  And  now  the  thing  so  long 
feared  as  a  possibility  was  actually  upon  us.  Unexpect- 
edly at  the  last  it  came  like  a  skeleton  to  mar  our  happy 
feast.  We  hurried  through  our  dinner  in  anxious  mood 
and  immediately  started  back  home,  laden  with  the 
fruit  we  had  collected. 

When  we  reached  home  everything  was  as  we  had 
left  it.  There  had  been,  so  far  as  we  could  tell,  no 
visitor  in  our  absence.  We  arrived  about  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  I  was  restive  with  the  uncertainty 
and  anxiety  that  the  sound  of  those  three  gunshots  had 
occasioned.  I  felt  that  I  must  know  speedily  the  exact 
truth.  Our  own  personal  safety,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
treasure  ship,  was  possibly  involved,  and  I  determined 
to  go  at  once  to  Farm  Cove,  where  they  would  prob- 
ably be  encamped,  and  reconnoitre  the  enemy  secretly. 
Of  course  there  would  be  danger  of  encountering  the 
pig-hunter,  or  party  of  pig-hunters  on  the  way,  but  I 
must  endeavor  by  caution  to  avoid  this.  When  I  an- 
nounced my  intention  both  Mr.  Millward  and  Alice 
opposed  my  going ;  but  I  was  able  very  soon  to  con- 
vince them  that  it  was  necessary. 

About  four  o'clock  I  started  alone,  not  permitting  the 
dog  to  accompany  me.  I  took  the  small  axe  from  Mr. 
Millward's  boat,  my  lasso,  some  food,  and  a  small  gourd 
of  water  slung  as  a  canteen  over  my  shoulder.  I  told 
them  I  might  not  return  until  the  next  day;  but 


238  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

that  if  I  did  not  get  back  before  the  next  night  they 
might  conclude  I  had  been  captured ;  and  in  that  event 
it  would  be  wise  for  them  to  embark  in  their  boat  and 
make  the  best  of  their  way  to  Martinique.  But  Mr. 
Millward  proposed  a  better  plan,  which  was  that  if  I 
did  not  return  by  the  next  night,  he  and  Alice,  pro- 
vided the  weather  was  such  as  to  permit  it,  would  take 
both  boats  out  of  the  creek  and  anchor  just  beyond  the 
breakers,  and  wait  there  another  day.  This  was  such 
an  excellent  idea  that  I  at  once  agreed  to  it. 

Bidding  them  farewell  I  plunged  into  the  forest  and 
made  my  way  cautiously  to  the  central  elevated  plateau, 
climbing  the  rocks  by  the  path  which  I  had  first 
ascended.  Here  the  open  nature  of  the  growth  made 
the  utmost  caution  indispensable,  for  I  might  at  any 
moment  now  come  upon  the  visitors,  if  they  were  still 
out  pig-hunting.  It  was  necessary  that  I  should  see 
them  before  they  saw  me.  This  made  my  progress 
very  slow.  Looking  carefully  about  in  every  direction, 
and  listening  for  every  sound,  I  advanced  a  hundred 
yards  or  so  and  repeated  the  observation,  concealing 
myself  as  thoroughly  as  the  nature  of  the  ground 
permitted.  On  the  connecting  ridge  between  the 
central  plateau  and  the  shore  cliffs  I  came  upon  con- 
vincing evidence  of  the  presence  of  visitors  on  the 
island.  Here  a  pig  had  been  killed  and  disembowelled. 
The  viscera  still  fresh  lay  upon  the  ground,  and  a  broad 
mark  where  the  carcass  had  been  dragged  along  led 
away  toward  the  shore  cliffs  in  the  direction  of  Farm 
Cove.  I  had  now  little  doubt  that  I  should  find  the 
visitors  at  that  place.  It  was  fully  an  hour  before  sun- 
set, and  I  thought  it  best  to  conceal  myself  and  wait 
until  dark  before  advancing  further.  I  secreted  myself 
therefore  amid  a  thick  clump  of  ferns,  and  patiently 
waited  for  the  friendly  shelter  of  the  night. 


THE  PEARL-FISHERS.  239 

As  I  sat  thus  buried  in  the  ferns  among  the  moss- 
grown  rocks,  looking  out  through  a  break  in  the  forest 
toward  the  southern  sky,  where  lay  a  battlemented  mass 
of  sun-dyed  cloud,  heavy  and  fantastic  in  outline,  there 
passed  through  my  mind  thoughts  of  the  life  and  curi- 
ous adventures  of  that  Henry  Morgan,  my  ancestor's 
brother,  who  two  hundred  years  ago  had  roamed 
these  seas  and  besieged  the  Spanish  strongholds. 
Fancy  pictured  in  the  tinted  clouds  the  fortified  city  of 
Porto  Bello,  the  seaport  of  Panama  on  the  Atlantic  side 
of  the  isthmus,  which  the  intrepid  Morgan  attacked 
with  four  hundred  and  sixty  of  his  men,  having  resolved 
to  reduce  this  strongly  fortified  place  as  a  preliminary 
to  the  capture  of  the  rich  city  of  Panama  itself.  There 
was  in  my  mind  the  vision  of  the  gray  walls,  the  gor- 
geous banners,  the  smoke  and  roar  of  guns,  the  white- 
faced  priest  and  pale  nuns  looking  from  the  convent  walls, 
the  scaling-ladders,  the  grim,  determined  Anglo-Saxon 
sailors,  mingled  with  the  equally  determined  Dutch  and 
the  black-bearded  Frenchmen,  constituting  Morgan's 
little  band.  I  could  see  in  fancy  the  flashing,  blood- 
stained blades,  and  hear  the  hoarse  battle-cry.  I  could 
even  fancy  my  ancestral  uncle  himself,  broad-shouldered 
and  commanding  in  appearance  as  he  needs  must  have 
been,  standing,  fire-balls  in  hand,  on  the  scaling-ladder, 
grimy  with  powder,  and  with  his  face  set  toward  the 
doomed  city.  There  must  have  been  something  more 
than  mere  brute  force  in  this  great  leather-clad  ances- 
tral uncle  of  mine  with  his  flashing  eyes  and  sturdy  fig- 
ure ;  for  did  he  not  control  absolutely  at  one  time  all 
this  region ;  conquer  the  all-conquering  Spaniard ; 
quell  mutinies  among  his  reckless  followers  with  ease ; 
lead  them  without  food  across  the  fever-stricken  isthmus, 
travelling  amid  inconceivable  obstacles  ever  onward 
until  they  were  actually  reduced  to  eating  their  leathern 


24-O  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

doublets;  then  with  this  starved  crew  did  he  not  be- 
siege and  capture  the  rich  city  of  Panama?  When  a 
mutiny  rose  and  some  of  his  desperate  followers  threat- 
ened to  desert  him  for  a  piratical  cruise  in  one  of  the 
captured  ships,  Morgan,  like  Hernando  Cortez,  but 
with  his  own  hand,  chopped  down  the  masts  and  rig- 
ging. Ah,  there  must  have  been  a  spirit  in  this  man 
greater  than  a  mere  piratical  thirst  for  blood.  Then 
too,  did  not  his  sovereign,  Charles  II.,  bestow  upon  him 
subsequently  the  order  of  knighthood,  make  him  Sir 
Henry  Morgan,  and  place  him  as  governor  over  the 
island  of  Jamaica?  He  died  without  descendants  of 
his  own,  the  honors  bestowed  upon  him  in  the  later 
days  of  his  career  are  no  longer  remembered,  and  in 
the  region  he  once  dominated  his  name  is  used  to 
frighten  children  with.  He  is  now  remembered  only  as 
a  buccaneer,  a  name  almost  synonymous  with  "  pirate  ;  " 
a  dauntless,  reckless,  blood-thirsty,  unconquerable  em- 
bodiment of  energy  and  will,  brooking  no  power  near 
him  save  his  own,  —  truly  a  leader  of  men,  but  exercis- 
ing his  leadership  to  no  good  purpose.  Though  he 
once  controlled  the  Spanish  main,  we  fail  to  see  it  re- 
corded that  he  ever  did  good  to  any  man. 

Here  was  I  now,  two  hundred  years  later,  perhaps 
the  sole  surviving  representative  of  his  family,  his  sole 
heir,  seeking  to  recover  a  treasure  that  he  conquered,  a 
treasure  which  I  had  already  brought  up  from  the 
depths  of  the  sea,  and  which  only  waited  to  be  pos- 
sessed. I  felt  the  old  spirit  of  the  dead  Morgans  fire 
my  heart  at  the  thought  of  the  possible  intervention  of 
a  crew  of  lawless  pearl-fishers  to  snatch  the  prize  from 
my  grasp.  The  treasure  was  mine,  doubly  mine,  —  first 
by  conquest  of  one  to  whom  I  was  heir ;  and  sec- 
ondly by  right  of  discovery  and  recovery  from  the  sea. 
"  No !  by  the  Eternal,  they  shall  not  have  it ! "  I  cried, 


THE  PEARL-FISHERS.  241 

half  aloud.  "  By  the  bones  of  my  all-conquering  ances- 
tor, they  shall  never  have  an  ounce  of  it,  not  so  much 
as  a  glimpse  of  it ! " 

When  it  grew  dark  I  resumed  my  progress  toward 
Farm  Cove,  stealing  along  as  cautiously  as  I  could  over 
the  somewhat  broken  way.  Every  few  steps  I  would 
pause  and  listen.  It  was  dark  as  a  pocket,  and  the 
cloudy  sky  was  scarcely  discernible.  But  still,  by  keep- 
ing the  wind  on  my  right  cheek  it  was  not  difficult  to 
preserve  the  proper  direction,  and  I  knew  that  however 
dark  the  night,  the  sea  would  be  visible  when  I  reached 
the  cliffs,  just  as  the  sky  was  faintly  distinguishable  now 
through  the  black  foliage  above  me. 

It  took  me  fully  an  hour  to  cover  the  comparatively 
short  distance  that  remained,  and  it  was  not  done  with- 
out several  falls  on  the  way  ;  but  fortunately  I  made  no 
great  noise,  though  an  occasional  dry  branch  would 
break  under  foot  with  a  sharp  crack,  which  in  the  still- 
ness sounded  alarmingly  loud  to  my  tense  senses.  In 
due  course,  groping  along,  I  came  to  the  cliffs  and  could 
see  the  faint  glimmer  of  the  water  through  the  foliage. 
Then  as  I  parted  some  branches  I  caught  sight  of  the 
red  reflection  of  a  fire  on  the  leaves  below,  then  the 
bright  blaze  of  the  fire  itself,  and  a  canvas  tent  which 
was  lighted  by  it.  Increased  caution  was  now  de- 
manded. It  would  not  do  to  step  on  a  dry  branch 
now,  so  at  each  step  I  felt  cautiously  with  my  foot  that 
nothing  might  intervene  between  it  and  the  ground. 
Fortunately  I  came  out  upon  the  path  which  led  down 
the  rocks  into  the  little  vale  that  lay,  as  I  have  previously 
described,  like  a  bowl,  open  on  one  side  to  the  sea  and 
nearly  surrounded  by  the  cliffs.  Down  this  path  I 
stole  cautiously,  and  was  half-way  down  before  the  in- 
tervening foliage  would  permit  a  fair  view  of  the 
encampment. 

16 


242  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

And  now  I  was  almost  near  enough  to  hear  the  con- 
versation that  was  going  on  among  the  people  assem- 
bled there.  Indeed,  I  could  hear  the  hum  of  voices, 
but  was  unable  to  distinguish  words.  In  the  light  of 
the  bright  fire  I  could  see  four  men  seated  on  the 
ground  playing  cards  on  a  folded  blanket.  They  were 
evidently  gambling.  One  of  the  four  was  a  yellow- 
skinned  Chinaman,  who  sat  facing  me.  Opposite  him 
and  with  his  back  toward  me  was  a  great,  burly  negro, 
while  the  other  two  players  were  dark-skinned,  black- 
haired  native  Indians  or  Caribbeans.  The  game  was  an 
animated  one,  and  the  players  were  completely  absorbed 
in  it.  Near  by  the  fire,  seated  on  a  fagot  of  wood,  was 
a  third  Indian,  his  head  bent  forward  and  resting  on 
his  hands  as  he  looked  steadily  into  the  fire.  From 
where  I  was  located  I  could  not  see  into  the  tent,  which 
consisted  of  a  square  of  canvas  thrown  over  a  pole  and 
stretched  shed-fashion  to  the  ground,  with  the  opening 
toward  the  fire.  But  I  could  plainly  see  on  the  canvas 
the  shadow  of  a  person  seated  within  the  tent.  On  a 
limb  near  by  hung  distended  the  dressed  carcass  of  a 
hog.  I  could  just  make  out  that  some  sort  of  a  craft  was 
moored  at  the  mouth  of  the  little  stream. 

I  watched  this  scene  for  several  minutes  scarce  dar- 
ing to  breathe.  The  three  Indians,  each  carrying  a  long 
knife  in  his  belt,  were,  I  conjectured,  the  divers  of  the 
party ;  the  Chinaman  was  doubtless  the  cook ;  and  as 
for  the  negro,  I  could  not  determine  approximately  his 
place. 

Suddenly  the  players  fell  to  quarrelling,  and  one  of 
the  Indians,  with  an  angry  cry,  sprang  up  and  drew  his 
knife.  Instantly  the  whole  party  was  on  foot,  and  I 
fully  expected  from  their  excited  manner  and  attitude 
to  see  blood  shed.  Just  at  this  juncture  the  person  in 
the  tent —  a  man  —  came  quickly  out,  with  a  drawn  re- 


THE  PEARL-FISHERS.  243 

volver  in  his  hand,  and  sprang  into  the  melde,  cursing 
and  shouting  in  a  loud,  deep  voice  of  command  for  them 
to  desist.  He  was  a  broad,  compactly  built  fellow,  of  forty 
years  or  thereabouts,  evidently  possessed  of  great  mus- 
cular strength;  for  he  was  able  with  his  unoccupied 
hand  to  seize  by  the  shoulder  the  Indian  who  had 
drawn  the  knife,  and  with  one  effort  send  him  reeling 
backward  almost  to  the  ground. 

"  Caramba  ! "  cried  he,  in  guttural  Spanish.  "  Dogs, 
stop  this  fighting,  do  you  hear?  If  I  find  you  at  it 
again  there  shall  be  no  more  card-playing.  Go  to  bed, 
or  keep  quiet,  you  quarrelsome  scoundrels." 

The  fight  was  over.  All  seemed  alike  to  fear  him, 
and  when  I  saw  his  countenance  in  the  firelight  I  could 
not  wonder.  It  was  a  dark,  powerful,  and  passionate 
face,  framed  in  by  a  short  black  beard.  Dark  enough 
for  a  Spaniard,  there  was  yet  something  in  the  counte- 
nance that  made  me  think  he  was  not  of  the  Latin  race  ; 
inore  likely  a  dark  Englishman  or  an  American.  Per- 
haps his  dress  and  general  appearance  contributed  to 
this  conclusion.  He  was  the  only  white  man  in  the 
party,  and  that  he  was  master,  or  chief,  did  not  admit 
of  a  doubt. 

Now  that  I  had  seen  this  cut-throat-looking  gang  and 
their  chief,  my  apprehension  as  to  what  they  might 
attempt  if  they  found  us  on  the  island  and  in  posses- 
sion of  their  pearl-fishing  secret  was  by  no  means 
allayed.  As  to  what  would  happen  if  they  by  any 
chance  should  discover  the  galleon,  I  felt  only  too 
certain. 

Crouched  down  among  the  dark  leafage  by  the  side 
of  the  path  I  remained,  a  prey  to  many  thoughts,  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  longer,  and  then  stole  cautiously 
back  up  the  path  to  the  high  ground  above,  and  began 
my  return  home  through  the  darkness.  When  I  had 


244  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

put  a  considerable  distance  between  me  and  the  party 
I  had  left,  I  began  to  breath  more  freely.  In  the 
murky  darkness  I  more  than  once  missed  the  way,  and 
finally  came  out  at  a  place  where,  though  I  could 
plainly  hear  the  murmur  of  the  waters  of  the  creek 
below  me,  it  was  impossible  to  descend. 

However,  by  travelling  first  in  one  direction  and  then 
in  the  other,  I  at  last  came  upon  the  little  gulley  which 
I  had  before  descended,  and  getting  down  was  able  to 
proceed  with  greater  speed  along  the  more  familiar 
route.  It  was  midnight  when  I  at  last  reached  the 
house  and  roused  Mr.  Millward  and  Alice  to  relate  to 
them  what  I  had  seen. 

As  we  were  safe  for  that  night  at  least,  I  proposed 
that  we  should  go  to  bed  again  and  get  our  rest,  and 
discuss  our  situation  in  the  morning. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   CAPTAIN   OF   THE   GANG. 

'THROUGH  considerably  exhausted  by  my  toilsome 
±.  tramp  and  the  excitement  of  the  reconnoissance, 
I  got  very  little  sleep  after  I  retired  to  my  hammock 
that  night.  Not  until  near  dawn  did  unconsciousness 
come ;  and  as  is  usually  the  case  under  such  circum- 
stances, though  my  mind  during  these  hours  of  sleep- 
lessness dwelt  continually  on  the  danger  that  threatened 
not  only  our  plans  but  ourselves  as  well,  nothing  came 
of  the  thought  except  added  apprehension.  There  is 
scarcely  ever  any  good  result  from  what  may  be  best 
termed  "  worry."  The  mind,  like  the  body,  refuses  to 
act  when  deprived  of  its  usual  rest.  One  may  indeed 
fancy  he  is  thinking  most  deeply,  during  the  still  hours 
of  the  night  when  he  should  be  sleeping,  but  in  truth 
such  thought  Is  rarely  genuine ;  it  is  only  puerile  worry, 
totally  lacking  in  virility  and  potency  to  solve  real 
difficulties.  The  fatigued  brain  like  a  coward  magni- 
fies all  obstacles,  and  at  the  same  time  overlooks  their 
solution,  and  ignores  the  hopes  that  rise  to  illumine  the 
fresh  intelligence  of  the  rested  thinker. 

The  consequence  was  I  did  not  waken  in  the  morn- 
ing until  called  to  breakfast  by  Alice  Millward  well  on 
toward  eight  o'clock. 

The  gale  had  sunk  to  a  gentle  breeze  from  the  same 
quarter.  The  bright  blue  sky  was  flecked  here  and 
there  with  high  clouds,  soft  and  fleecy  white,  their 
shadows  a  mellow,  purple  gray.  It  was  a  fresh,  bright, 


246  THE   SPANISH  GALLEON. 

beautiful  morning,  such  as  breathes  hope  and  confidence 
in  the  apprehensive  mind.  I  immediately  began  to  dis- 
count the  probabilities  of  impending  disaster  that  had  op- 
pressed me,  and  our  talk  at  the  breakfast  table  was  all 
in  a  hopeful  strain.  What  right  had  we  to  suppose  the 
pearl-fishing  gang  would  discover  us?  It  was  not 
probable  they  would  stay  long,  —  a  month  or  two  at 
farthest,  —  and  there  was  no  telling  how  long  they  had 
already  been  here.  They  would  be  busy  at  their  work 
on  the  other  side  of  the  island,  with  nothing  to  cause 
them  to  wander  about  except  the  pig-hunting,  when 
they  wanted  fresh  pork.  If  they  should  chance  to 
descend  from  the  central  cliffs,  they  could  not  see  our 
habitation  or  boats,  unless  they  should  happen  to  come 
around  the  island  to  the  beach  above  or  below  us. 

It  behooved  us  therefore  to  lie  close  for  the  present, 
and  the  chances  seemed  to  favor  our  escaping  notice. 
By  carefully  guarding  against  raising  a  smoke  during 
the  day  with  our  fires,  we  should  greatly  diminish  the 
chances  of  being  discovered,  and  at  night  we  would 
keep  no  fire.  We  could  lower  the  masts  of  the  boats, 
and  by  mooring  them  a  little  farther  up  they  would  be 
partly  hidden  by  the  willows.  So,  too,  as  to  the  gal- 
leon ;  unless  one  actually  climbed  upon  the  rocks  and 
looked  down  into  the  basin,  there  was  nothing  in  the 
external  appearance  of  the  place  from  sea  or  shore  to 
denote  its  existence.  The  vines  I  had  planted  now 
grew  most  luxuriantly  over  the  shed  and  the  house,  so 
that  a  casual  observer  from  a  distance  might  well  fail  to 
distinguish  human  habitations.  There  was,  however, 
the  naked  palm  tree  with  its  cross-piece  which  I  had 
rigged  long  ago  as  a  distress  signal,  standing  most  con- 
spicuously. This  must  come  down  at  once ;  it  would 
be  plainly  visible  at  a  great  distance  up  and  down  the 
beach,  and  from  the  sea.  A  few  blows  of  the  axe 


THE   CAPTAIN  OF  THE   GANG.  247 

would  soon  remedy  that.  Thus  we  discussed  the  situ- 
ation ;  and  although  bad  enough  in  all  conscience  to 
cause  us  much  mental  disturbance,  it  did  not  seem  with- 
out hope. 

After  arranging  our  belongings  so  that  they  would 
attract  as  little  attention  as  possible,  we  sat  quietly  down 
to  await  events.  We  read  aloud  by  turns  from  Charles 
Dickens's  beautiful  story  "  Our  Mutual  Friend ;  "  Mr. 
Millward  revived  his  early  experiences ;  we  improvised 
a  checker-board  and  finally  a  set  of  chess-men,  and  Mr. 
Millward  and  I  pondered  long  over  intricate  situations 
arising  from  Evans  gambit.  Nevertheless  the  time  hung 
heavy  on  our  hands,  owing  to  the  shadow  of  anxiety  that 
was  over  us.  Mention  was  seldom  made  of  the  pearl- 
fishers,  but  they  were  always  more  or  less  in  mind. 
Thus  passed  three  days,  during  which  we  heard  nothing 
from  the  other  party  on  the  island. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day,  two  hours  before 
dawn,  I  departed  for  a  second  reconnoissance,  intending 
to  conceal  myself  in  some  place  where  I  could  remain 
during  a  portion  of  the  daylight  for  the  purpose  of  get- 
ting a  better  knowledge  of  our  neighbors  and  their 
doings.  By  starlight  I  readily  made  my  way  to  the 
cliffs  about  Farm  Cove,  and  there,  just  as  the  dawn  was 
breaking,  concealed  myself  in  a  bed  of  fern  growing 
among  the  rocks.  From  the  lay  of  the  land  I  judged 
there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  seeing  the  camp  from 
where  I  was  hidden,  and  such  proved  to  be  the  case. 
By  the  aid  of  a  glass  belonging  to  Mr.  Millward  I  could 
bring  the  camp  up  to  an  apparent  distance  not  exceed- 
ing two  rods. 

The  whole  party  was  asleep,  so  far  as  I  could  judge, 
when  I  first  observed  them.  About  an  hour  after  sun- 
rise the  Chinaman  rose  up  from  his  blanket,  and 
after  yawning  and  stretching  himself  in  sleepy  fashion 


248  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

proceeded  to  build  a  fire  and  cook  a  breakfast  for  the 
party.  This  was  soon  done,  and  then  he  went  from  one 
to  the  other  of  the  sleepers  and  roused  them.  The 
breakfast  for  the  white  man  was  carried  into  the  tent. 

After  the  eating  was  over  the  whole  party,  except  the 
Chinaman,  went  down  to  the  boat,  which  was  a  good- 
sized  sloop,  of  twice  the  tonnage  of  either  of  ours,  and 
embarked,  pulling  out  of  the  creek  by  a  warp  laid  out 
to  a  buoy  for  that  purpose.  They  had  a  good-sized 
dingy,  or  better,  a  yawl,  in  tow.  When  they  reached 
the  buoy,  which  was  at  a  distance  of  forty  rods  or  there- 
abouts from  shore,  they  made  fast  to  it,  and  the  three 
Indians  with  the  negro  got  into  the  yawl  and  pulled 
away  a  hundred  yards  or  so  to  the  south,  the  white  man 
remaining  on  board  the  sloop,  where  I  could  see  him 
sitting  near  the  tiller  smoking  a  cigar. 

When  the  party  in  the  yawl  reached  the  distance 
mentioned,  the  negro  being  at  the  oars,  they  came  to  a 
standstill,  and  I  could  see  the  Indians  strip  for  diving. 
The  operation  was  wholly  new  to  me  and  interesting. 
They  took  turns  one  after  another.  The  fellow  whose 
turn  it  was  to  dive  got  over  the  side  and  took  hold  of  a 
line,  to  the  end  of  which  a  great  stone  was  tied,  and 
which  was  provided  with  two  loops,  in  which  he  inserted 
his  feet.  When  he  was  all  ready  one  of  the  other  In- 
dians allowed  the  rope  to  pay  out  rapidly,  and  down  sank 
the  diver  carrying  a  sort  of  bag  hung  around  his  neck. 
After  the  Indian  had  been  down  what  seemed  to  me 
an  extraordinary  length  of  time  for  a  man  to  stay  under 
water,  he  came  up  without  the  bag  and  clung  to  the 
side  of  the  boat  seemingly  in  a  state  of  utter  exhaustion. 
The  two  Indians  in  the  boat  then  helped  him  on  board 
and  he  immediately  lay  down,  while  his  companions 
hauled  up  the  stone  again  and  brought  inboard  the  bag, 
from  which  they  emptied  perhaps  a  bushel  of  great  flat 


THE   CAPTAIN  OF  THE   GANG.  249 

oysters.  Then  another  took  his  turn,  and  so  on  in 
rotation,  until  a  considerable  heap  of  the  great  bivalves, 
each  of  which  was  four  or  five  inches  in  diameter,  was 
collected.  These  they  carried  to  the  sloop  and  began 
again,  shifting  their  position  a  little  each  time  under  the 
direction  of  the  man  on  the  sloop,  who  sat  watching 
and  smoking  the  whole  time. 

I  had  heard  remarkable  stories  of  the  length  of  time 
pearl-divers  could  remain  under  water,  some  accounts 
putting  it  as  high  as  ten  minutes,  and  I  was  sorry  I  had 
no  timepiece  with  me  to  find  out  how  long  the  men 
before  me  actually  stayed  down.  As  a  substitute  for  a 
more  accurate  method,  I  timed  them  several  times  by 
counting  my  own  pulse-beats.  Allowing  seventy-five  beats 
to  the  minute,  which  I  believe  was  about  right,  the 
longest  time  I  could  make  out  was  a  little  over  two 
minutes.  The  shortness  of  the  time  was  a  surprise  to  me, 
for  judging  from  my  untimed  observations  the  apparent 
duration  was  frequently  between  five  and  ten  minutes. 
I  think  the  exaggerated  accounts  we  receive  are  due  to 
the  natural  tendency  of  an  observer  who  does  not 
actually  measure  the  time  to  think  it  longer  than  it 
really  is. 

The  oyster-gathering  thus  conducted  in  my  view  was 
a  slow  business,  as  the  divers  did  net  go  down  oftener 
than  once  in  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  and  were  seem- 
ingly in  no  hurry  to  go  down  at  all,  though  willing 
enough  to  come  up.  This  was  the  frequent  occasion 
of  rough  and  stern  command  from  the  man  in  the  sloop, 
who  kept  up  a  more  or  less  constant  talk  across  the 
water  with  his  subordinates.  When  a  diver  would  come 
up  too  soon  or  with  a  light  find,  a  string  of  imprecations 
in  Spanish  would  greet  him  ;  so,  too,  when  one  hesitated 
too  long  before  he  plunged  in. 

When  I  had  watched  this  performance  for  an  hour 


250  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

or  two  I  began  to  think  of  getting  back  home.  The 
Chinaman  had  finished  his  work  and  was  seated  at  the 
foot  of  a  tree  knitting  a  white  cotton  sock,  his  fingers 
plying  the  bright  steel  needles  as  fast  as  ever  I  saw  a 
grandmother  do  it.  He  sat  precisely  facing  my  place 
of  concealment,  and  every  now  and  then  would  look  up 
and  around,  his  needles  still  going  with  automatic  regu- 
larity. This  was  very  annoying.  I  did  not  dare  to 
move  so  long  as  he  sat  there ;  for  if  he  should  chance 
to  look  up  while  I  was  scaling  the  rock  just  back  of  me 
—  a  height  of  perhaps  ten  feet  —  to  reach  the  summit 
of  the  cliff,  discovery  was  almost  certain.  I  was  obliged, 
therefore,  to  remain  where  I  was. 

In  order  to  improve  the  time  I  examined  the  interior 
of  the  tent  with  the  telescope.  The  only  thing  I  saw  of 
interest  there  was  a  double-barrelled  breech-loading 
shot-gun  slung  to  the  ridgepole,  with  a  belt  of  cartridges. 
You  may  be  sure  I  coveted  the  possession  of  this  weapon 
and  its  ammunition,  and  had  there  been  any  way  to  get 
it,  should  not  under  the  circumstances  have  hesitated  to 
appropriate  it  to  my  own  use  and  the  defence  of  my 
friends.  But  even  if  I  had  succeeded  in  getting  it  with- 
out being  seen  by  the  knitting  Chinaman  its  loss  would 
at  once  be  discovered  and  the  presence  of  others  on 
the  island  immediately  suspected.  I  now  turned  my 
glass  on  the  Chinaman  and  soon  saw  him  close  his  eyes 
while  still  knitting  away.  He  looked  up  now  no  longer, 
but  his  fingers  kept  on  plying  the  needles.  His  head 
gradually  sunk  upon  his  breast.  The  man  was  evidently 
knitting  in  his  sleep  !  A  moment  later  his  hands  fell 
into  his  lap,  and  after  a  few  more  of  the  automatic 
movements  became  still.  I  lost  no  further  time  in 
climbing  back  to  the  summit  and  getting  out  of  sight 
in  the  forest,  from  whence  I  made  my  way  home 
safely. 


THE    CAPTAIN  OF  THE   GANG.  2$l 

We  continued  to  lie  close  at  home  after  this,  as 
before.  In  order  that  no  smoke  should  rise  by  day 
we  now  made  a  practice  of  cooking  at  night-time  in 
the  fireplace  so  that  the  fire  would  not  be  visible. 
We  did  not  venture  out  on  the  beach  at  any  time 
during  daylight  where  we  might  be  seen  from  a 
distance.  This  life  continued  thus  for  a  week,  and  I 
had  about  made  up  my  mind  to  take  another  trip  to 
Farm  Cove  to  see  if  the  pearl-fishers  were  still  there. 
This,  however,  became  unnecessary,  for  just  as  I  had 
reached  that  conclusion  we  were  informed  of  the  fact 
that  the  visitors  were  still  present  by  the  sound  of 
several  shots  from  the  centre  of  the  island. 

To  occupy  some  of  the  time  that  hung  so  heavy  on 
our  hands,  Mr.  Millward  and  I  took  down  the  pumping- 
machine  and  loaded  it  on  the  big  boat,  to  be  in  readi- 
ness to  carry  to  the  basin  when  we  should  feel  it  safe 
to  do  so.  We  went  out  fishing  after  dark  in  the 
smaller  boat  several  times  to  eke  out  our  supply  of 
provisions  by  a  stock  of  fresh  fish.  One  night  I  was 
fortunate  enough  to  turn  a  fine  turtle,  which  gave  us 
a  good  supply  of  meat  and  a  plenty  of  eggs.  The  latter 
made  a  fairly  good  omelet,  but  had  a  slightly  unpleasant 
oily  taste. 

Thus  passed  another  week  of  enforced  idleness.  I 
cannot  deny  that  the  society  of  Alice  Millward  proved 
an  ample  compensation  to  me  for  this  delay  in  our 
plans.  We  were  almost  constantly  together,  and  there 
grew  up  between  us,  I  was  certain,  a  perfect  feeling  of 
comradeship,  even  if  it  went  no  further  on  her  part. 
A  thousand  times  during  this  period  of  intimate  associ- 
ation my  great  love  for  this  sweet  girl,  who  grew  sweeter 
and  dearer  as  I  came  to  know  her  better,  impelled  me 
to  speak  to  her  of  my  regard.  But  I  did  not  do 
so.  It  seemed  to  me  then  that  by  so  doing  I  might 


252  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

risk  the  delight  of  her  companionship.  As  our  present 
relations  stood  we  were  happy  in  each  other's  friendship. 
Her  beautiful  eyes  looked  into  mine  so  frankly  and 
cordially,  her  hand  lay  often  so  confidingly  in  my  own, 
her  smile  was  so  friendly  and  sweet,  that  I  dared  not 
risk  the  utterance  of  words  which,  if  they  found  no 
response  in  her  own  heart,  would  make  mine  so  deso- 
late. You  may  perhaps  quote  to  me  the  old  adage  that 
"  faint  heart  never  won  fair  lady."  But  please  remem- 
ber my  situation.  You  would  not  ask  a  shipwrecked 
mariner  to  give  up  the  plank  on  which  he  floats ;  no 
more  could  you  ask  me  to  risk  the  only  joy  I  knew.  If 
there  lurked  discomfort  in  the  uncertainty,  certainty  might 
develop  more  than  discomfort  —  utter  despair.  I  trust 
that  I  am  not  a  coward  in  all  things ;  yet  in  this  thing 
my  heart  beat  faint  at  the  possibility  of  disappointment. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  her  father  more  than  half 
guessed  the  state  of  my  heart.  But  he  never  said  a 
word  to  indicate  it  to  me,  and  I  only  judged  so  from 
his  manner  at  times ;  for  example,  from  the  fond  way 
in  which  he  would  look  at  his  daughter,  or  stroke  her 
hair,  —  little  things  which  suggested  to  my  mind  the 
idea  that  he  thought  of  the  time  when  another  might 
claim  her  from  him.  My  turbulent  heart  would  beat 
then  at  the  bare  possibility  that  I  might  be  that  happy 
man.  It  must  be  a  great  sorrow  for  a  loving  parent, 
who  tenderly  cherished  a  daughter  through  helpless 
infancy  and  childhood,  till  she  blossoms  into  woman- 
hood, to  see  her  wooed  and  won  away  by  a  stranger  — 
a  sorrow  that  is  not  less  poignant  because  untainted  by 
any  selfish  desire  to  hinder  the  loved  one  from  leaving 
the  home  nest,  and  acquiring  new  loves  and  affections 
which  shall  inevitably  displace  to  a  great  degree  the  old 
ones.  It  is  small  consolation  to  the  heart  bereft  that 
it  is  the  course  of  nature.  That  does  not  bring  back 


THE   CAPTAIN  OF  THE   GANG.  253 

the  lost  one.  The  parent  would  not  have  it  different, 
and  yet  the  grief  is  there.  Akin  to  this  is  the  fond 
regret  of  the  mother  who  sees  with  mingled  pride  and 
sorrow  her  babe  grow  out  of  its  sweet  helplessness. 
Day  by  day  the  little  one  must  seem  to  become  less 
and  less  a  part  of  herself.  Her  old  love  may  take  on  a 
new  form,  but  it  is  not  so  dear  a  form. 

One  beautiful  morning  as  we  sat  in  the  shed  eating  a 
late  breakfast  and  engaged  in  a  lively  conversation  con- 
cerning the  successful  manner  in  which  we  had  evaded 
the  notice  of  our  neighbors  at  Farm  Cove,  wondering 
if  they  were  still  there,  and  if  so  how  long  they  would 
remain,  we  were  all  surprised  to  see  Duke  come  run- 
ning into  the  shed  as  fast  as  he  could  go,  and  plunge 
under  the  table  with  his  tail  between  his  legs  and  a 
cowed  air  about  him  that  was  quite  strange  to  the  dog. 
The  action  was  remarkable,  for  Duke  was  a  well- 
bred  dog,  and  this  conduct  was  not  only  peculiar  but 
also  in  very  bad  form.  I  got  up  immediately  and 
looked  up  and  down  the  beach.  There,  not  ten  rods 
away  and  coming  straight  toward  the  shed,  was  the  chief 
of  the  pearl-fishing  gang.  Positively  for  a  second  or 
two  I  felt  paralyzed.  Mr.  Millward  and  Alice  were 
almost  immediately  beside  me ;  and  as  soon  as  I  could 
control  myself  I  said  to  them  in  a  low  tone,  "  It  is  the 
leader." 

The  man  advanced  with  a  perfectly  assured  self-pos- 
session, and  when  near  took  off  his  broad  panama  hat, 
bowed  with  great  dignity  and  no  lack  of  courtly  grace, 
saying  in  Spanish,  "  The  day  is  better  for  beholding 
you." 

"  Good  morning,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Millward. 

"  Ah,  very  good ;  you  speak  English,"  said  the 
stranger  in  our  own  tongue  and  with  no  trace  of  foreign 
pronunciation  or  accent.  "  I  am  glad.  It  is  my  own 


254  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

language.  You  will  pardon  me  for  intruding  upon  you. 
But  I  only  followed  my  dog  which  has  been  lost  for 
some  time,  and  which  I  have  just  found.  He  ran  into 
your  premises,  as  you  noticed  just  now." 

"  Then  your  name  must  be  H.  Senlis,"  said  I  to  him 
with  as  much  politeness  of  demeanor  as  I  could 
command. 

"  True,  my  friend,"  replied  he,  suavely;  "  no  doubt  you 
may  read  it  on  the  dog's  collar.  H.  Senlis  is  my  name, 
and  Duke  is  my  dog.  The  rascal  mutinied  and  ran 
away  from  me,  but  that  makes  him  no  less  my 
property." 

His  property  was  at  that  moment  cowering  under  the 
table,  looking  very  much  as  an  escaped  convict  might  at 
the  appearance  of  his  keeper. 

"  Of  course,  Mr.  Senlis,"  said  I,  "  if  the  dog  is  yours, 
as  it  seems  he  is,  we  lay  no  claim  to  him.  He  came  to 
us  as  a  stray  animal.  You  have  a  right  to  your  property, 
though  we  should  be  sorry  to  lose  him.  If  you  had  not 
claimed  him  it  was  our  intention  to  carry  him  away  from 
the  island  soon  at  our  departure." 

"  Poor  Duke  !  "  said  Alice  ;  "  we  shall  not  like  to  part 
with  him." 

Off  came  the  panama  again  with  a  most  profound 
bow,  and  he  said,  "  Do  not  distress  yourself,  lady.  It  is 
not  my  intention  or  desire  to  take  the  dog  from  you. 
It  became  necessary  for  me  to  punish  him  for  insubor- 
dination. He  ran  away.  He  is  still  in  a  mutinous 
mind,  and  I  have  no  use  for  him  unless  it  be  to  punish 
him  again,  and  that  is  hardly  worth  the  while,  as  I  fear 
he  is  incorrigible.  Permit  me  then  to  surrender  to  you  " 
—  another  profound  bow  —  "  all  my  right  and  remaining 
title  in  the  animal." 

The  man's  effusive,  overdone  politeness,  the  bold, 
undisguised  stare  which  he  gave  to  Alice,  all  tended 


THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE   GANG.  2$$ 

to  confuse  the  girl  so  that  she  answered  nothing  to  this 
speech. 

Her  father  noticing  this  broke  in  by  saying,  "  We 
were  just  at  breakfast  when  you  came  up.  Will  you 
partake  of  our  fare  ?  " 

"Surely  I  will,  and  with  much  pleasure,"  answered 
the  stranger ;  and  thereupon  as  we  gave  way  he  entered 
the  shed,  and  when  I  had  procured  him  a  seat  we  all 
four  sat  down  at  the  table.  As  he  came  in  Duke  rap- 
idly departed  from  under  the  table. 

The  stranger's  appetite  appeared  to  be  excellent, 
judging  from  the  quantity  of  baked  pork  and  beans  and 
hot  corn  bread  he  disposed  of,  and  the  gourd  of  steam- 
ing hot  coffee  he  drank. 

"  How  do  you  happen  to  be  here  ?  "  said  he  at  length 
to  Mr.  Millward. 

"We  are  castaways,"  answered  the  old  man,  and 
added,  "  When  I  landed  here  a  few  months  ago  I  was 
helpless,  unable  to  move  a  limb,  in  short,  paralyzed. 
But  I  am  recovering,  and  may  say,  indeed,  that  I  am 
now  almost  myself  again." 

"Then  you  have  been  here  several  months,"  said  the 
stranger,  his  eyes  fixed  on  Mr.  Millward. 

"Yes." 

"  Why  do  you  remain  here,  now  that  you  are  well  ? 
Or  is  it  that  you  cannot  get  away?  " 

"Can  you  assist  us  to  get  away?"  said  Mr.  Millward, 
and  I  was  somewhat  amused  at  the  delicate  diplomacy 
of  this  reply. 

"Well,"  said  the  stranger,  "it  may  be  possible.  I 
will  see  what  can  be  done.  Our  boat  is  rather  small 
and  heavily  laden.  But  I  will  see.  I  will  see,  and  let 
you  know." 

At  this  point  I  broke  in,  saying,  "  When  did  you 
land  ?" 


256  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

"  We  came  yesterday,"  said  he,  coolly ;  "  a  party  of  us 
are  here  pig-hunting." 

"  There  is  a  great  plenty  of  pigs  to  be  had,"  said  I, 
accepting  the  lie  without  remark.  "  When  do  you  in- 
tend leaving?" 

"  We  shall  not  remain  long,  —  two  or  three  days,  or 
perhaps  a  week,"  said  he  ;  and  after  a  pause  he  added, 
"  but  I  will  let  you  know  in  time." 

He  inquired  our  names^  and  where  we  wanted  to  go ; 
praised  the  breakfast  unstintedly ;  bent  furtive  glances  of 
coarse  admiration  on  Alice  from  time  to  time ;  and  con- 
ducted himself  all  through  with  the  utmost  assurance. 

When  we  rose  from  the  table  and  went  out  on  the 
beach,  he  drew  some  long,  plantation  Cuban  cigars  from 
his  pocket,  offered  us  each  one,  which  we  did  not  refuse, 
and  we  began  to  smoke  together. 

Presently  he  spied  on  the  beach  one  of  the  cages  of 
gourds  such  as  we  had  used  in  raising  the  galleon,  —  an 
extra  one,  not  used.  He  walked  up  to  this  object  and 
contemplated  it  for  several  moments,  turning  it  over  with 
his  foot. 

Finally  he  said,  "  Mr.  Millward,  I  am  a  good  deal 
puzzled  over  this  thing.  I  suppose  it  was  cast  up  here 
by  the  sea.  Can  you  tell  me  what  it  is  for?  '' 

"  I  cannot,  Mr.  Senlis." 

"  Well,  it  is  very  surprising  indeed.  In  our  sloop  in 
the  open  sea  a  hundred  miles  west  of  here  we  came 
across  thousands  of  these  things  floating  in  the  water  — 
literally  thousands  of  them,  all  just  like  this  one,  four 
gourds  in  a  willow  cage,  with  a  wooden  hook  at  the  end 
of  a  line.  If  it  is  some  sort  of  fishing-apparatus  I  don't 
understand  how  it  could  be  used.  And  where  did  they 
all  come  from  ?  " 

Though  this  made  me  feel  decidedly  uncomfortable, 
I  could  hardly  forbear  laughing,  as  the  thought  of  the 


THE   CAPTAIN  OF  THE   GANG. 

sea  full  of  gourds,  and  the  puzzle  which  they  would 
present  to  a  chance  navigator,  came  thus  forcibly  to 
mind. 

He  looked  at  the  thing  a  moment  longer,  gave  it  a 
vicious  kick  as  though  to  punish  it  for  daring  to  puzzle 
him,  and  then  turned  away. 

Mr.  Millward  then  took  him  to  our  flourishing  garden, 
and  said  the  visitors  would  be  welcome  to  a  supply  of 
fresh  vegetables  if  they  desired  it.  A  huge  bunch  of 
plantains  caught  the  captain's  eye,  as  it  hung  in  the 
porch  of  the  house,  and  he  said,  "  Do  you  find  plantains 
on  the  island  ? '' 

"  Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Millward,  "  and  bananas  as  well. 
If  you  like  we  can  supply  your  party  with  both." 

"  If  we  expected  to  remain  long  it  would  be  an  object. 
But  we  shall  be  going  so  soon  now  that  it  is  scarcely 
worth  the  trouble." 

We  then  returned  to  the  house  at  the  visitor's  sugges- 
tion, and  he  with  the  most  formal  courtesy,  as  though 
parting  with  a  hostess,  took  Alice  Millward's  hand  and 
thanked  her  for  his  breakfast  and  said  adieu  to  her 
and  us. 

"  You  will  hear  from  me  in  a  day  or  two,  a  week  at 
most.  In  the  mean  time  I  hope  you  will  not  disturb  the 
pigs.  Perhaps  it  would  be  better  if  you  should  keep 
away  from  the  higher  part  of  the  island  entirely,  as  it 
might  drive  our  game  into  the  lowlands  where  it  would 
be  more  difficult  to  find." 

After  a  pause,  as  though  considering  something,  he 
added :  "  Personally,  I  should  be  pleased  to  have  you 
visit  our  camp,  which  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  island. 
But  I  will  not  now  ask  you  to  do  so,  for  the  reason  that  it 
will  be  difficult  for  me  to  induce  my  companions  to 
submit  to  the  inconvenience  that  would  result  from  our 
making  room  for  three  additional  persons  in  our  boat. 

17 


258  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

Perhaps  on  the  whole  it  would  be  best  that  they  should 
not  know  you  are  here  at  present,  and  until  I  have  had 
opportunity  to  prepare  them  for  your  reception.  I  will 
let  you  know  in  time.  And  now  farewell  until  I  see  you 
again." 

With  this  he  stalked  off  over  the  savanna  to  the 
southwest,  without  again  looking  back.  The  cool, 
self-possessed  manner  in  which  the  man  had  lied  was 
astonishing.  And  we  were  utterly  unable  to  determine 
his  purpose,  beyond  the  fact  that  evidently  he  wanted  to 
conceal  the  nature  of  his  business  on  the  island. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

SELF-BETRAYED. 

THE  consternation  and  bewilderment  caused  to  our 
little  party  by  the  pearl-fishing  captain's  visit 
may  be  better  imagined  than  described. 

The  captain's  burly  figure  had  hardly  disappeared 
when  Duke  came  back  wagging  his  tail.  Alas  !  poor 
dog,  he  little  knew  the  trouble  he  had  caused  his 
friends.  He  came  up  and  laid  his  head  down  on 
Alice's  knee  to  be  patted,  and  made  much  of  her  as 
was  his  wont. 

Of  course  we  discussed  the  recent  event  in  all  its 
bearings.  The  only  definite  result  of  the  long  talk, 
however,  was  the  general  conclusion,  which  can  per- 
haps be  best  stated  in  Mr.  Millward's  words,  as  follows  : 

"  We  are  discovered,"  he  said,  "  just  as  we  were  con- 
gratulating ourselves  that  we  would  not  be.  The  man 
does  not  know,  however,  that  we  are  aware  of  the  pearl- 
fishery.  He  believes,  on  the  contrary,  that  we  are  not 
aware  of  it.  If  we  are  not  apprised  of  his  secret  he 
can  have  no  object  in  doing  us  harm.  He  tells  us  the 
first  convenient  lie  that  occurs  to  him  to  gain  time  to 
think  matters  over.  However  bad  he  may  be  in  fact,  it 
is  not  to  be  expected  that  he  will  go  to  the  length  of 
wantonly  murdering  three  people  for  no  purpose; 
and  I  feel,  therefore,  that  we  are  safe  as  long  as  he 
does  not  fear  that  we  have  discovered  his  secret.  That 
he  intends  to  offer  us  a  passage  on  his  sloop  I  do  not 
believe  at  all.  That  would  be  to  betray  his  business 


26O  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

here  at  once  ;  for  even  if  the  general  character  and  ap- 
pearance of  the  men  and  apparatus  did  not  suggest  it, 
when  we  reached  port  it  would  inevitably  come  out.  I 
am  inclined  to  believe  he  told  the  truth  when  he  said 
that  the  party  did  not  intend  to  remain  long  on  the 
island.  Now,  if  we  can  keep  matters  as  they  are  at 
present,  the  gang  will  doubtless  remove  all  evidence  of 
their  occupation,  and  then  quietly  leave  the  island,  and 
leave  us  to  get  away  as  best  we  may." 

This  all  seemed  reasonable  and  probable.  Our  cue, 
therefore,  was  plainly  not  to  discover  the  pearl-fishery 
secret,  but  to  remain  quietly  at  home  and  await  events, 
without  attempting  to  invade  our  neighbor's  privacy. 

That  this  was  a  wise  conclusion  was  made  evident 
that  very  day  in  the  afternoon,  as  follows  :  — 

In  plain  sight  of  the  house  and  on  the  skirts  of  the 
savanna,  or  open  grass-land,  there  grew  a  huge  silk  cot- 
ton-tree, with  buttressed  trunk  and  spreading  branches. 
I  chanced  to  be  looking  that  way  and  noticed  a  flock 
of  parrots  fly  to  the  tree  and  then,  instead  of  lighting  on 
its  branches  as  they  seemed  to  have  intended,  break  up 
into  a  confused  body  as  though  something  therein 
alarmed  them,  and  scatter  in  all  directions.  My  first 
impression  was  to  go  up  to  the  tree,  which  was  perhaps 
an  eighth  of  a  mile  distant,  to  investigate.  Then  the 
idea  occurred  to  me  that  the  flurry  among  the  birds 
might  have  been  caused  by  the  captain  or  some  of  his 
gang  lurking  there  to  spy  upon  us.  To  satisfy  my  mind 
on  this  point,  I  went  to  the  house  and  got  Mr.  Mill- 
ward's  glass,  and  putting  it  through  a  crevice  which  I 
cut  in  the  wall  for  that  purpose,  examined  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  distant  tree  very  carefully.  Presently  I 
saw,  perched  high  in  the  branches,  and  partly  concealed 
by  the  foliage,  so  as  to  be  quite  invisible  to  the  naked 
eye,  my  old  acquaintance  the  Chinaman.  There  he 


SELF-BETRAYED.  26l 

was  comfortably  ensconced  among  the  limbs,  knitting 
away  at  his  white  sock,  just  as  I  had  before  seen  him. 
Undoubtedly  he  was  on  watch  to  spy  out  our  doings. 

"  Watch  on,  my  celestial  friend,"  thought  I ;  "we 
shall  endeavor  to  conduct  ourselves  to  the  eminent 
satisfaction  of  your  black-whiskered  patron." 

I  reported  the  discovery  of  the  spy  to  my  compan- 
ions, and  we  had  a  quiet  laugh  to  ourselves  over  the 
matter.  The  only  thing  we  did  in  consequence  of  the 
discovery  was  to  tie  up  poor  Duke  in  the  shed  for  fear 
that  he  might  find  the  Chinaman  and  occasion  him 
some  uneasiness  of  mind.  For,  in  truth,  the  fact  that 
the  captain  had  set  his  Chinaman  to  watch  us  was  a 
thing  that  comforted  me  amazingly.  I  reasoned  it  out 
in  this  fashion  :  So  long  as  the  captain  knew  we  stayed 
safely  at  home,  so  long  would  he  feel  that  his  secret  was 
safe ;  and  so  long  as  he  felt  his  secret  safe,  so  long 
would  he  lack  motive  to  molest  us.  The  spy  was  a 
guarantee  that  he  would  know  that  we  were  not  spying 
about  ourselves. 

Four  days  passed  thus.  Each  day  I  cautiously  ex- 
amined the  tree  with  the  glass,  and  each  time  found 
either  the  Chinaman  or  the  negro  mounted  on  guard. 
Whether  they  kept  up  the  espionage  at  night  as  well  as 
by  day  I  had  no  means  for  determining  satisfactorily. 
From  the  actions  of  the  dog  at  times  I  imagined,  how- 
ever, that  they  did  so. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fifth  day  of  this  watch,  at 
about  eight  o'clock,  we  received  a  second  visit  from 
Captain  Senlis.  He  brought  the  carcass  of  a  young  pig 
just  killed,  and  inquired,  after  a  little  general  conversa- 
tion, where  the  plantains  were  to  be  found.  I  en- 
deavored to  tell  him  as  plainly  as  I  could  where  the  old 
plantation  was  located  and  how  he  might  get  there,  and 
finally  volunteered  to  guide  him  to  the  hog-path  and 


262  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

put  him  in  the  right  course  to  reach  the  north  valley. 
He  remained  with  us  half  an  hour,  and  then  expressed 
a  desire  to  be  guided  as  I  had  suggested.  Now  this  re- 
quired that  we  should  cross  the  creek,  and  as  I  had  no 
notion  of  letting  him  see  our  boats,  we  waded  over  the 
stream  breast-deep,  and  walked  on  up  the  beach. 
When  we  got  to  the  hog-path  I  pointed  it  out  to  him, 
and  explained  that  he  only  needed  to  follow  it  until  he 
reached  the  gorge,  and  to  pass  on  through  the  latter 
into  the  valley ;  that  he  would  then  have  no  difficulty  in 
finding  the  fruit  trees ;  but  that  in  order  to  get  out  of 
the  valley  he  would  be  obliged  to  return  through  the 
gorge,  as  the  surrounding  cliffs  were  very  precipitous. 
He  asked  me  then  suspiciously  if  I  had  ever  attempted 
to  scale  the  cliffs  surrounding  this  valley.  I  truthfully 
answered  that  I  never  had,  and  indeed,  never  had  oc- 
casion to  do  so. 

He  asked  me  minutely  about  the  topography  of  the 
valley,  and  I  described  it  to  him  as  well  as  I  could,  —  the 
surrounding  wall  of  cliff,  the  little  harbor,  the  buildings, 
fields,  orange  groves,  etc.  He  was  particularly  inter- 
ested apparently  in  the  harbor,  and  I  thought  I  could 
readily  understand  why,  though  of  course  I  did  not 
hint  that  I  knew  he  was  thinking  of  it  as  a  secure  place 
of  concealment  in  the  prosecution  of  his  future  diving 
operations.  At  length  he  started  into  the  path,  and  I 
followed  for  a  little  way  continuing  the  conversation. 
When  we  were  well  into  the  forest  I  said  I  need  go  no 
farther,  and  we  parted,  he  going  on  and  I  returning  on 
the  path. 

When  I  came  out  on  the  beach  it  occurred  to  me 
that  this  was  an  excellent  opportunity  to  walk  up  to  the 
basin  and  take  a  look  at  the  galleon,  to  see  how  she 
came  on.  There  was  nobody  in  sight,  and  I  was  al- 
ready half-way  there.  I  had  bitter  cause  subsequently 


SELF-BETRAYED.  263 

to  regret  this  foolish  performance,  as  you  will  presently 
see. 

When  I  reached  the  place  I  climbed  upon  the  rocks 
and  looked  down  into  the  basin.  There  was  the  gal- 
leon peacefully  resting  in  the  clear,  calm  pool,  visible 
from  end  to  end  through  the  transparent  water.  I 
stood  thus  contemplating  this  object,  so  interesting  to 
me,  for  perhaps  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  then  came 
down  upon  the  beach  and  started  home.  I  walked 
quietly  along,  in  no  special  hurry  to  be  back,  entirely 
without  suspicion  of  any  misfortune,  and  thinking  of  the 
time  when  our  troublesome  neighbors  would  be  gone, 
when  suddenly  I  saw  in  the  damp  sand  tracks  which  I 
at  once  recognized  as  having  been  made  by  the  feet  of 
the  Chinaman.  There  was  no  mistaking  these  foot- 
prints. They  could  only  have  been  made  by  the  pecu- 
liar shoe  worn  by  that  people.  The  prints  indicated 
that  he  had  come  diagonally  out  on  to  the  beach  to  the 
edge  of  the  water  and  then  run  in  again  toward  the 
forest. 

I  took  this  all  in  at  a  glance  and  read  its  meaning 
instantly.  The  almond-eyed  spy  had  followed  me  up 
the  beach,  and  here  was  where  he  had  run  out  to  get 
sight  of  me  as  I  turned  in  toward  the  rocks.  No  doubt 
he  had  seen  me  looking  into  the  basin.  I  did  not  pause 
in  my  walk,  for  he  might  even  now  be  watching  me  ;  but 
I  edged  in  slowly  toward  the  jungle  and  got  out  of  sight. 
Then  I  looked  back  up  the  beach,  but  could  see  nothing. 
Would  the  Chinaman  go  up  and  look  into  the  basin,  or 
would  he  content  himself  with  simply  following  me  to 
see  that  I  did  not  go  toward  Farm  Cove  ?  I  determined 
to  find  out.  There  was  nothing  in  sight.  I  could  not 
go  through  the  jungle,  so  I  came  boldly  out  and  ran 
up  the  beach  close  to  the  bushes  as  fast  as  I  could 
until  I  had  gone  about  twenty  rods.  By  going  out  to 


264  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

the  water  I  could  now  see  the  rocks  of  the  basin.  So  I 
lay  down  flat  on  the  sand  and  rolled  out  nearly  to 
the  water's  edge.  If  the  Chinaman  was  there  watching 
he  might  wonder;  but  no  matter,  I  would  take  that 
chance.  When  far  enough  out  I  looked  toward  the 
rocks,  and  saw  the  spy  there  at  the  basin  looking  in 
just  as  I  had  done.  It  was  enough.  His  back  was 
turned.  I  sprang  to  my  feet  and  ran  back  under 
cover.  Our  secret  was  out  now  with  a  vengeance, 
and  all  through  my  own  stupidity.  The  situation  was  a 
desperate  one.  The  treasure  seemed  in  a  fair  way  to 
be  irretrievably  lost.  Without  arms  Mr.  Millward  and 
I  could  not  cope  with  the  pearl-fishing  gang,  and  it 
was  too  much  to  expect  that  on  this  remote  island, 
far  from  the  power  of  the  law,  they  would  respect  our 
prior  right  to  the  cargo  of  the  old  vessel  which  we  had 
brought  up  from  the  deep.  They  would  do  what  they 
pleased,  and  would  doubtless  speedily  please  to  go 
diving  in  the  basin;  and  we  would  be  powerless  to 
prevent  it. 

With  head  bent  down  I  slowly  made  my  way  home. 
There  was  a  gloomy  party  there  that  day.  Of  course 
no  one  blamed  me  for  the  misfortune  but  myself.  That 
was,  however,  no  consolation.  I  was  so  fully  convinced 
that  the  truculent  Senlis  and  his  gang  would  seize  on  the 
treasure  of  the  galleon,  that  I  already  counted  it  almost 
as  good  as  lost.  Still  I  did  not  entirely  despair,  and 
did  not  intend  to  give  up  all  effort  until  the  treasure 
was  actually  gone.  But  what  could  we  do?  Mr. 
Millward  thought  we  could  do  absolutely  nothing. 

"  Don't  grieve  over  spilt  milk,  my  boy,"  said  he, 
kindly,  in  an  effort  to  soothe  my  terrible  disappointment. 
"  There  are  far  greater  sorrows  in  this  world  than  the 
mere  loss  of  money." 

Alice,  too,  was  full  of  sympathy,  and  put  her  hand  on 


SELF-BE  TRA  YED.  26$ 

my  shoulder  without  a  word.  But  I  could  read  well 
enough  in  her  face  what  she  would  say. 

No  one  could  suggest  any  plan  of  action  except  that 
now  it  might  perhaps  be  quite  as  well  for  us  to  embark 
and  leave  the  island  and  the  dangerous  neighborhood  of 
the  captain  and  his  crew.  But  I  was  not  willing  to  do 
this  until  I  knew  with  definiteness  what  were  his  inten- 
tions. We  finally  concluded  that  as  soon  as  it  was 
dark  we  would  get  the  boats  ready  and  go  out  to  sea, 
where  we  could  watch  proceedings  in  safety. 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  captain  came 
sauntering  down  the  beach.  I  knew  quite  well  that  he 
had  seen  the  galleon,  or  at  least  the  inference  that  the 
Chinaman  had  reported  it  to  him  was  almost  certain. 
But  though  he  crossed  the  creek  and  came  to  the  shed 
where  we  were  all  seated  and  talked  with  us  a  while,  he 
said  not  a  word  concerning  the  subject  that  was  upper- 
most in  all  our  minds.  Could  it  be  possible  the  China- 
man had  not  told  him  ?  No ;  I  could  dismiss  that  idea 
from  my  mind ;  it  was  too  improbable.  He  knew  of  the 
wreck,  and  moreover  he  knew  that  I  knew  of  it.  His 
present  demeanor  was  simply  the  outcome  of  his 
naturally  secretive  disposition.  But  there  was  one  thing 
he  did  not  know,  and  I  did  not  intend  to  let  him  know 
it.  And  that  was  the  fact  that  we  were  aware  he  knew 
of  the  galleon.  So  I  said  nothing  that  would  lead  him 
to  suspect  that  I  had  been  watching  his  spy ;  nor  did 
the  others. 

The  man's  deceitful  nature,  which  I  well  comprehended 
by  this  time,  coupled  with  the  offensive  air  of  gallantry 
which  he  exhibited  toward  Alice  Millward,  together  with 
the  fact  that  I  felt  sure  he  intended  to  overhaul  the 
galleon  and  seize  upon  the  fruits  of  our  tremendous 
labor,  made  me  feel  as  though  I  should  like  to  have  it 
out  with  him  there  and  then.  And  the  effort  I  was 


266  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

obliged  to  make  to  control  my  feelings  did  not  add 
to  my  comfort  while  he  stayed.  I  was  very  glad,  as  we 
all  were,  when  he  left. 

Just  before  sunset  I  strolled  into  the  grove  of  cocoa- 
nuts  about  half  a  mile  from  the  house,  on  no  special 
errand  but  just  idly  thinking  over  the  condition  into 
which  our  affairs  had  drifted.  I  was  so  absorbed  in  my 
own  thoughts  that  for  the  time  I  had  forgotten  our  de- 
termination to  stay  close  at  home.  As  I  was  standing 
near  a  tall  palm,  with  my  hands  in  my  pockets,  I  was 
rudely  awakened  from  my  revery  by  the  whistle  of  a 
bullet  close  to  my  head,  and  the  report  of  a  pistol  fol- 
lowing immediately  after.  I  got  behind  the  tree  in  short 
order  and  watched  to  see  if  I  could  discover  the  author 
of  this  wanton  attack.  That  it  was  the  captain  or 
some  of  his  gang  I  had  no  doubt ;  most  probably  it  was 
the  captain,  for  so  far  as  I  knew  he  was  the  only  one 
who  carried  firearms. 

I  waited  where  I  was  for  half  an  hour,  until  the  dusk 
had  come,  and  then  went  home.  I  did  not  tell  of  this 
adventure  just  then,  as  it  was  not  necessary  to  make 
my  friends  feel  uneasy.  They  had  heard  the  shot,  but 
attached  no  special  importance  to  it.  This  deliberate 
attempt  to  murder  me  made  me  feel  strongly  the  danger 
of  our  remaining  longer  on  shore.  I  had  no  right  on 
any  account  to  subject  Alice  and  her  father  for  a  mo- 
ment more  to  the  tender  mercies  of  such  a  gang  of  cut- 
throats. Let  the  galleon  and  its  treasure  go  if  necessary, 
we  must  put  to  sea  at  once.  The  full  moon  would  rise 
by  nine  o'clock,  and  as  we  wanted  to  be  off  shore  be- 
fore that  time,  we  had  to  hurry  our  preparation.  The 
boats  were  fortunately  both  provided  with  a  supply  of 
fresh  water  in  gourds,  which  would  keep  sweet,  and  it 
did  not  take  us  long  to  put  our  provisions  on  board, 
together  with  such  things  as  we  thought  we  might  need 


SELF-BE  TRA  YED.  267 

for  a  voyage.  The  masts  were  down  in  both  boats, 
having  been  lowered  for  the  purpose  of  concealment. 
We  were  obliged,  therefore,  to  have  recourse  to  our 
oars,  rowing  the  large  boat  and  towing  mine  after  it. 
We  had  forgotten  Duke,  but  he  came  swimming  after 
us  just  as  we  were  about  to  leave  the  creek,  and  I 
helped  him  on  board.  As  I  did  so  my  hand  came  in 
contact  with  his  collar.  I  stopped  the  boat  and  took 
this  collar  off,  for  the  reason  that  it  bore  the  name  of 
Senlis,  and  dropped  it  overboard  into  the  sea.  I  smile 
when  I  think  of  the  childish  performance ;  but  it 
seemed  to  rne  then  that  I  could  not  bear  to  have  any- 
thing near  me  pertaining  to  the  truculent  knave.  And 
I  have  no  doubt  that  Duke  also  felt  delighted,  and  with 
much  more  reason.  My  companions  both  noticed  the 
act,  but  said  nothing. 

Just  as  we  got  beyond  the  rollers  I  made  out  in 
the  darkness  the  figure  of  a  man  running  down  to  the 
beach.  I  knew  he  could  see  us  better  than  we  could 
see  him. 

"  Pull,  Mr.  Millward  !  "  I  cried ;  "  they  are  after  us. 
Get  down  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  Alice,  quick  !  they 
may  shoot." 

The  words  were  hardly  out  of  my  mouth  when  three 
pistol-shots  were  fired  in  rapid  succession,  and  the  balls 
whistled  close  by  us.  From  the  flash  I  thought  I  could 
make  out  the  captain  as  the  murderous  assailant. 

He  did  not  fire  again  and  we  were  soon  out  of  range, 
and  casting  anchor  began  the  work  of  setting  up  the 
masts  and  rigging.  The  light  of  the  moon,  which  soon 
rose,  showed  nobody  on  the  beach.  It  was  almost  light 
enough  to  read  coarse  print,  and  this  facilitated  our 
work  greatly.  As  soon  as  the  boats  were  in  sailing  trim 
we  stood  off  to  the  north  with  a  gentle  breeze  coming 
from  the  south.  By  midnight  we  were  off  the  north 


268  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

cape,  and  here  we  cast  anchor  in  plain  sight  of  the 
rocks  surrounding  the  galleon  basin  and  in  such  a 
position  that  we  could  see  the  pearl-divers'  boat  long 
before  it  could  come  within  gunshot,  if  it  should  put  to 
sea  and  attempt  to  round  the  cape. 

I  now  told  my  companions  of  the  narrow  escape  I 
had  had  at  the  cocoanut  grove,  which,  owing  to  more 
recent  events,  was  no  surprise  to  them. 

We  arranged  to  keep  a  watch  as  follows  :  I  would 
take  the  first  watch  until  two  o'clock ;  then  Alice  would 
watch  until  four,  and  Mr.  Mill  ward  until  six,  and  then 
I  would  take  another  turn  while  they  slept  in  the 
morning.  Alice  insisted  on  taking  her  share  of  this 
duty. 

Mr.  Millward  rolled  himself  up  in  the  bottom  of  the 
boat  and  in  five  minutes  was  sound  asleep.  Alice  and 
I  sat  in  the  stern  sheets  together.  She  insisted  she  was 
not  sleepy,  and  wanted  to  change  the  order  of  the 
watches  agreed  upon,  and  to  take  the  first  watch  herself. 
This  I  would  not  let  her  do,  as  I  had  determined  if  she 
went  to  sleep  not  to  waken  her.  I  could  not  persuade 
her  to  lie  down.  We  sat  silently  thus  for  half  an  hour, 
when  I  saw  that  she  had  fallen  asleep.  I  gently  drew 
her  toward  me  that  she  might  rest  with  some  comfort, 
and  held  her  thus  unconscious  in  my  arms,  the  moon- 
light falling  softly  upon  her  sweet,  pale  face.  I  felt  that 
here  was  a  treasure  to  console  me  for  the  loss  of  the 
galleon. 

The  long,  heaving  swell  rocked  us  gently,  and  the 
soft  plash  of  the  water  against  the  boat  sung  a  lullaby. 
More  than  once  I  found  my  heavy  eyelids  about  to 
close.  Then  I  would  rouse  myself  up,  for  fear  of  dis- 
turbing the  dear  burden  that  rested  upon  me,  and  look 
about.  Nothing  came  in  sight.  I  could  see  the  rocks 
where  lay  the  galleon ;  the  long  line  of  breakers  down 


SELF-BE  TRA  YED.  269 

the  beach ;  the  sea  stretching  clear  to  the  horizon  on  all 
sides  except  where  the  island  obstructed  the  view ;  the 
shore  and  foliage  lit  up  by  the  silvery  light  of  the  moon ; 
but  no  sign  of  our  interesting  neighbors.  The  hours 
passed  on  until  three  o'clock  and  after.  One  after 
another  the  constellations  moved  down  to  the  western 
sky  line,  and  still  Alice  slept  peacefully  on. 

At  last  she  moved  uneasily  and  seemed  about  to 
awaken.  I  wanted  very  much  to  let  her  head  gently 
down  upon  the  seat,  that  she  might  not  know  how  she 
had  been  sleeping,  but  my  attempt  to  do  this  wak- 
ened her  fully;  and  she  at  once  realized  the  whole 
situation. 

I  said  then,  speaking  low  that  her  father  might  not 
be  wakened,  "  Alice,  never  mind,  you  have  been 
sleeping." 

She  looked  up  at  me  in  a  startled  way  and  blushed 
until  the  flush  was  visible  in  the  moonlight. 

Again  I  said,  gently,  "  Never  mind  about  it,  you  have 
been  sound  asleep.  Pray  don't  distress  yourself." 

Then  how  it  came  about  I  do  not  exactly  know,  and 
perhaps  should  not  care  to  analyze  it  here  at  any 
rate.  In  her  sweet  confusion,  while  lying  thus  in 
my  arms,  I  put  my  lips  to  hers,  and  pressed  her  to 
my  heart. 

The  uncertainty  was  gone,  never  to  return.  "My  dear 
Alice  was  mine,  mine  alone.  I  had  rescued  a  treasure, 
indeed,  from  the  sea.  Ah !  do  you  know  what  it 
means,  this  finding  out  your  true  love?  If  you  do,  then 
no  need  for  me  to  write  it  down ;  if  you  do  not,  then 
mere  lifeless  words  cannot  paint  to  you  the  pure  delight, 
the  flood  of  hope  and  fond  emotion. 

Of  course  we  had  much  to  talk  about,  as  lovers  do, 
and  we  sat  talking  low  until  the  gray  dawn  stole  into  the 
eastern  sky  heralding  the  sun.  I  learned  a  good  deal 


2/O  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

in  that  time.  Perhaps  the  most  instructive  lesson  was 
when  Alice  drew  forth  my  old  stained  visiting  card,  and 
showed  it  to  me. 

Just  before  sunrise  the  old  man  woke  up  from  his 
sound  sleep,  and  came  aft  to  where  I  was  sitting  with 
my  arm  around  his  daughter. 

I  lost  no  time  in  telling  him  what  had  passed  between 
us. 

"  Is  it  so,  Alice  ?  "  said  he,  putting  his  hand  on  her 
head  tenderly  and  turning  her  face  up  toward  his. 

"Yes,  father." 

" Well "  —  after  a  long  pause,  and  sighing  —  "I  sup- 
pose it  is  only  natural."  Then  turning  to  rne  he  laid 
his  other  hand  on  my  shoulder,  and  said  :  "  My  boy, 
you  may  be  thankful  to  have  such  a  wife.  She  will 
prove  to  you  what  her  dear  mother  was  to  me.  I 
thought  I  could  see  this  coming,  but  it  is  hard  to  lose 
my  little  girl." 

He  then  sat  down  beside  us,  and  after  a  little  silence 
said  :  "  Now,  my  children,  we  are  all  here  together. 
You  have  made  up  your  minds  to  love  each  other.  It 
will  please  me  that  you  should  love  each  other  well ; 
the  more  the  better.  And  I  want  you  to  take  me  into 
the  partnership.  I  am  an  old  man,  and  I  cannot  lose 
my  daughter.  She  is  all  I  have  on  earth.  Make  a 
place  for  me,  my  son,  in  your  heart,  as  I  have  already 
made  a  place  for  you.  And  you,  Alice,  love  him  with 
all  your  heart,  and  do  not  feel  that  I  am  an  outsider, 
or  my  presence  a  hindrance  to  you.  Often  have  I 
tried  to  console  other  parents  by  saying  they  gain  a 
son  when  they  lose  a  daughter.  Now  I  am  an  called 
upon  to  console  myself.  I  may  do  it  by  loving  you 
both." 

I  was  much  affected  by  the  old  man's  earnest  man- 
ner and  the  deep  feeling  that  trembled  in  his  voice.  I 


SELF-BE  TRA  YED.  2  7 1 

took  his  hand  in  mine  and  pressed  it  fervently.  Alice 
threw  her  arms  about  his  neck  and  passionately  declared 
no  one  could  take  his  place  in  her  heart. 

The  sun  rose  upon  this  scene,  and  his  level  beams 
shone  upon  us  with  a  flood  of  golden  light.  A  bright 
new  day  had  dawned  for  me  in  more  senses  than 
one. 


CHAPTER  XXIT. 

THE  CAPTAIN'S  FATE. 

BOUT  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  had  the  first 
news  of  our  neighbors.  Captain  Senlis,  the  negro, 
and  the  three  Indians  at  that  hour  came  walking  up  the 
beach  from  the  direction  of  our  house.  The  negro  had 
a  coil  of  rope  over  his  shoulder,  and  one  of  the  Indians 
carried  a  water  jug.  It  was  plainly  an  expedition  to 
view  the  galleon.  When  they  came  in  sight  the  negro 
pointed  out  our  boats,  and  they  all  paused  a  moment 
to  look  at  us,  as  we  swung  at  anchor  just  beyond  range 
from  the  nearest  point  of  the  shore. 

We  were  curious  to  know  what  would  be  their 
method  of  procedure  with  reference  to  the  galleon.  In 
view  of  the  vast  amount  of  incrustation  of  shells  and 
coral,  it  would  be  no  very  easy  task  even  for  the  pearl- 
divers  to  get  at  the  contents  of  the  old  ship  by  diving 
and  breaking  into  the  hull.  That  such  was  their  design 
I  conjectured  from  the  fact  that  the  captain  carried  an 
axe,  and  one  of  the  Indians  an  iron  bar.  When  they  had 
reached  the  rocks  I  took  Mr.  Millward's  glass,  and 
climbed  the  mast  of  the  sloop  to  the  cross-trees,  where 
I  could  have  a  footing,  and  from  which  I  could  just  see 
over  the  edge  of  the  breakwater,  and  get  a  glimpse  of 
the  surface  of  the  water  in  the  basin,  for  about  half  its 
extent. 

When  they  came  to  the  rocks  all  five  stood  looking 
down  into  the  basin  for  some  time,  the  Indians  pointing 
now  and  then,  and  the  captain  and  the  negro  holding 


THE   CAPTAIN'S  FATE.  2/3 

conversation  together.  Then  they  all  came  down  into 
the  breakwater.  One  of  the  Indians  began  to  prepare 
himself  for  a  dive,  greasing  his  body  with  oil  from  a 
bottle  and  plugging  up  his  nose  and  ears,  in  the  slow, 
methodical  way  that  I  had  before  observed,  and  with 
the  same  apparent  reluctance.  When  he  was  ready  he 
sat  down  on  the  sand  with  such  an  air  of  indifference  arid 
disinclination  to  proceed  that  I  could  not  help  smiling. 
Then  the  captain  began  to  gesticulate  and  talk  in  a  way 
that  made  it  plain,  though  of  course  at  that  distance 
I  could  not  hear  a  word,  that  he  was  cursing  the  poor 
Indian  at  a  stormy  rate.  There  seemed  to  be  some  sort 
of  hitch  or  difficulty  in  affairs.  The  two  other  Indians 
came  up  to  the  captain  and  began  to  talk  to  him.  From 
the  distant  pantomime  I  fancied  they  were  endeavoring 
to  convince  him  that  the  rock  at  the  shore  side  would 
be  a  better  place  to  work  from  than  the  low  breakwater. 
But  this  the  captain  would  not  see.  He  presently  went 
up  to  the  seated  Indian  and  pushed  him  on  the  shoulder ; 
but  the  man  only  looked  stolidly.  The  captain  then 
threw  off  his  coat,  kicked  off  his  shoes,  and  plunged 
into  the  basin.  He  evidently  intended  to  swim  to  the 
wreck,  and  stand  on  the  higher  portions  of  it.  It  re- 
quired only  a  few  strokes  for  a  powerful  swimmer  such 
as  he  would  doubtless  be. 

But  the  unfortunate  man  never  reached  the  galleon. 
After  he  had  plunged  in  he  was  hidden  from  my  view 
by  the  breakwater.  My  glass  was  levelled  carefully  on 
the  scene,  and  the  whole  of  it  was  in  the  field.  I 
expected  almost  instantly  to  see  his  burly  figure  rising 
from  the  three  or  four  feet  of  water  that  covered  the 
poop  of  the  galleon,  but  he  did  not  appear.  Not  only 
did  he  fail  to  appear,  but  there  arose  immediately  the 
greatest  excitement  among  the  others.  The  Indians 
began  to  throw  up  their  arms  and  shout  and  to  cast 
18 


274  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

stones  into  the  basin.     The  negro  covered  his  face  with 
his  hand  as  though  to  shut  out  some  fearful  sight. 

The  meaning  of  all  this  did  not  penetrate  to  my  mind 
at  once.  I  could  not  understand  the  disappearance  of 
the  captain.  But  the  conduct  of  the  Indians,  in  their 
shouting  and  stone-throwing,  led  me  presently  to  con- 
jecture the  real  state  of  the  case.  It  was  the  impris- 
oned shark.  I  now  recollected  that  he  lay  in  the  basin 
like  a  sentinel  guarding  the  galleon.  The  captain  had 
been  attacked  by  the  fish,  and  probably  killed.  The 
conduct  of  his  followers  would  soon  determine  this. 
Mr.  Millward  called  up  to  me  to  know  what  the  evident 
excitement  meant.  In  a  moment  more  I  caught  a 
glimpse  of  what  seemed  a  blood  stain  on  the  surface  of 
the  pool,  though  of  course  I  could  not  be  sure  ;  for 
while  the  glass  brought  the  view  up  to  an  apparent 
distance  of  not  over  ten  rods,  still  there  was  a  certain 
glimmer  due  to  the  refraction  of  the  light  which  made 
such  a  thing  as  a  discoloration  of  the  water  an  ex- 
tremely difficult  thing  to  see.  But  putting  all  together,  — 
the  disappearance  of  the  captain,  the  fact  that  the  shark 
was  there,  and  finally  the  conduct  of  the  remaining 
members  of  the  party,  —  I  felt  morally  certain  that  he  had 
met  his  fate  in  a  horrible  death  from  the  treacherous 
fish.  If  such  was  the  case  (and  there  seemed  to  be  no 
escape  from  the  conclusion)  I  felt  sure  there  would  be 
no  further  attempts  made  by  the  party  to  get  at  the 
wreck  until  they  could  get  rid  of  the  shark.  I  told  my 
companions  what  I  had  seen  and  my  conclusions  drawn 
therefrom,  and  they  agreed  with  the  latter. 

I  came  down  on  deck,  as  we  could  watch  the  doings 
of  the  party  on  the  rocks  quite  as  well  from  there, 
though  we  could  not  see  into  the  basin. 

The  three  Indians  and  the  negro  were  now  gathered 
together  in  a  group  on  the  rock,  evidently  engaged  in  a 


THE   CAPTAIN'S  FATE.  275 

consultation.  Presently  the  negro  started  off  down  the 
beach  toward  Home  Creek,  and  the  Indians  remained 
at  the  rock.  We  immediately  concluded  that  he  had 
gone  to  their  camp  to  get  a  shark  hook,  or  the  gun,  or 
some  means  of  destroying  the  man-eater.  I  at  once 
made  up  my  mind  that  we  did  not  want  our  sentinel 
destroyed,  and  that  the  only  way  to  prevent  it  was  to 
reach  the  camp  ahead  of  the  negro,  and  get  possession 
of  the  shotgun  and  ammunition.  There  would  be  no 
one  at  Farm  Cove  now  except  possibly  the  Chinaman, 
who  would  be  left  there  as  a  guard  to  the  property.  I 
recollected  his  propensity  for  knitting  and  sleeping,  and 
thought  it  possible  to  catch  him  napping  if  I  could 
arrive  there  before  the  negro.  He  would  require  over 
two  hours  to  go,  and  would  most  likely  sail  back  in  the 
pearl-fishers'  sloop,  and  would  then  be  in  a  position, 
with  the  gun,  to  make  the  neighborhood  too  warm  for 
us.  I  determined  to  be  beforehand  with  him  if  possible. 
I  could  do  this  by  sailing  down  to  Farm  Cove  in  my 
boat,  along  the  west  coast,  which  would  not  take  longer 
than  an  hour.  The  Chinaman,  if  he  should  be  keeping 
a  bright  lookout,  which  was  not  very  likely,  would  not 
be  expecting  anybody  from  the  sea.  The  chances  of 
success  in  the  enterprise  seemed  more  than  even. 

I  explained  the  plan  to  Alice  and  her  father,  and  the 
necessity  that  existed  for  speed  and  promptness  in  its 
execution.  After  much  hesitation,  particularly  on 
Alice's  part,  they  finally  agreed  that  the  move  was  a 
proper  and  advisable  one.  I  immediately  cast  loose  the 
"  Mohawk  "  and  made  sail,  leaving  the  Millwards  and 
their  boat  at  anchor.  As  I  parted  from  them  I  told 
Mr.  Millward  to  keep  a  bright  lookout,  and  if  he  should 
see  the  pearl-fishers'  sloop  coming  before  my  boat,  to 
weigh  anchor  and  stand  to  the  north,  and  then  make  his 
way  as  best  he  could  to  Martinique,  and  assured  him 


2/6  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

that  I  would  follow  in  my  own  boat  if  I  came  to  no 
harm.  The  wind  was  light,  and  had  shifted  so  that  I 
had  it  fairly  on  the  port  beam,  and  made  satisfactory 
speed  on  the  way.  I  would  have  at  least  a  half-hour  to 
spare  before  the  negro  could  make  the  distance  by 
land,  the  route  he  was  taking,  and  probably  an  hour, 
unless  he  made  more  haste  than  I  believed  he  felt 
occasion  to  do. 

When  I  came  nearly  opposite  the  cove  I  bore  up 
close-hauled  and  headed  fairly  for  the  sloop,  which  lay 
moored  at  the  mouth  of  the  little  stream,  and  came 
boldly  in.  If  the  Chinaman  should  be  at  the  tent  the 
intervening  foliage  would  prevent  him  from  seeing  me, 
and  if  he  was  on  board  the  sloop,  which  was  not  likely, 
I  would  soon  see  him.  When  I  drew  up  alongside  the 
sloop,  keeping  the  sails  full  to  prevent  their  flapping  in 
the  slight  breeze,  I  found  it  deserted,  and  immediately 
made  fast  leaving  my  sails  hoisted  ready  for  a  rapid  re- 
treat if  it  should  be  required.  Now  the  greatest  caution 
became  necessary.  If  the  Chinaman  was  at  the  camp 
I  must  see  him  before  he  saw  me.  Moreover,  I  con- 
ceived that  there  was  no  time  to  spare  even  if  I  had  a 
full  hour  before  me. 

From  my  previous  visits  and  observations  the  lay  of 
the  land  was  perfectly  familiar  to  me.  The  best  way  to 
reach  the  tent  would  be  to  follow  up  the  creek,  where  I 
would  be  screened  from  view  by  the  oleanders  that  grew 
on  its  banks.  This  would  necessitate  swimming  for  a  few 
rods  just  at  the  mouth,  and  I  felt  a  little  nervous  at  the 
recollection  of  the  recent  shark  episode,  but  rightly  con- 
cluded that  the  sharks  could  not  be  very  plentiful  here- 
abouts, or  the  diving  could  not  have  been  carried  on. 
Without  delay  I  slipped  gently  over  the  side  into  the 
water  and  swam  in  until  my  feet  found  bottom.  It  grew 
rapidly  shallow  now  until  the  water  was  soon  only  ankle- 


THE   CAPTAIN'S  FATE.  2// 

deep  in  the  little  narrow  rivulet.  Cautiously  advancing 
I  soon  came  to  a  point  where  the  tent  was  visible.  The 
gun  and  ammunition  hung  in  their  old  place,  but  no 
Chinaman  could  be  seen.  The  stream  took  a  bend 
here,  and  by  following  it  completely  round  I  could  gain 
a  spot  within  a  couple  of  rods  of  the  tent.  This  I 
safely  reached  and  looked  around  again  for  the  China- 
man, but  he  was  not  to  be  seen.  I  then  waited,  watched, 
and  listened  for  fully  five  minutes,  but  could  get  no 
trace  or  sign  of  him.  The  gun  was  so  near  that  I  then 
made  up  my  mind  to  a  bold  dash  for  it.  If  I  could  get 
hold  of  the  gun  I  did  not  care  for  the  Chinaman.  With 
this  intent  I  started  on  a  run  straight  for  the  tent 
before  me. 

I  had  not  taken  three  steps  before  my  foot  came 
down  exactly  upon  the  celestial  lying  flat  on  his  back 
asleep  in  the  grass.  I  must  have  knocked  the  wind  out 
of  him  completely,  as  my  foot  backed  up  by  my  whole 
weight  struck  him  fairly  in  the  pit  of  the  stomach.  He 
squirmed  and  struggled  up  to  a  sitting  posture,  but  did 
not  cry  out  nor  make  any  effort  to  stop  me.  Indeed,  I 
believe  the  fellow  could  not  have  cried  out  to  save  his 
life  after  the  foul  blow  he  had  received  in  the  diaphragm. 

I  turned  to  look  at  him  as  I  ran  on,  but  did  not  pause 
until  I  had  the  weapon  in  my  hands,  a  cartridge  in  both 
barrels,  and  the  belt  of  ammunition  buckled  around  my 
waist.  I  was  now  master  of  the  situation,  as  I  supposed. 
I  looked  around  the  tent  to  see  if  there  were  any  other 
firearms,  but  could  see  none.  My  back  was  momen- 
tarily turned  towards  the  prostrate  foe,  when  a  curious 
whistling  sound  caught  my  ear,  and  instinctively  I  wheeled 
quickly  around  just  in  time  to  escape  a  knife  which  he 
had  thrown  at  my  back  with  all  the  dexterity  of  a  juggler. 
Instantly  I  covered  him  with  the  gun,  and  there  never 
was  a  Chinaman  nearer  death,  who  lived  to  tell  it,  than 


2/8  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

this  yellow  scoundrel  at  that  moment.  My  finger  was 
on  the  trigger,  when  he  threw  himself  face  down  flat  on 
the  grass  with  his  arms  stretched  toward  me,  the  palms 
together.  It  was  not  worth  while  nor  did  I  want  to  kill 
him,  I  reflected  in  a  moment,  and  moreover  I  did  not 
care  to  fire  the  gun,  for  there  was  no  telling  how  near  the 
negro  might  be.  So,  keeping  an  eye  upon  him  as  long 
as  I  could  see  him  lying  there,  I  hurried  down  to  the 
boats.  Just  as  I  reached  the  place  where  they  were 
moored  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  light-blue  blouse  of 
the  Chinaman  as  he  ran  swiftly  up  the  path  toward  the 
top  of  the  cliffs. 

As  I  have  before  stated,  the  pearl-fishers  had  laid  a 
warp  from  the  shore  to  a  buoy  anchored  well  out, 
which  they  used  to  haul  the  sloop  in  and  out  by.  I 
hastily  cast  off  the  shore  end  of  this  warp,  which  was 
fast  to  a  tree,  and  taking  it  on  board  the  pearl-fishers' 
sloop  hauled  that  vessel,  my  own,  and  the  pearl-fishers' 
yawl,  all  three,  out  to  the  buoy.  I  then  made  shift  to 
haul  up  the  anchor  by  aid  of  a  winch  on  the  pearl- 
fishers'  craft,  and  left  it  hanging  at  the  bow,  cutting 
loose  the  buoy.  We  now  began  to  drift,  and  I  took  a 
line  to  rny  own  boat  preparatory  to  towing  the  entire 
flotilla.  All  this  had  occupied  some  time,  and  just  as  I 
was  fairly  under  way  I  saw  the  Chinaman  and  the  negro 
run  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  creek.  The  black  fairly 
danced  with  anger,  and  shouted  out  curses  loud  and 
deep  after  me,  to  all  of  which  I  made  no  reply,  but 
getting  the  sails  on  my  boat  trimmed,  jogged  slowly 
along  with  my  heavy  tow  safe  behind.  I  felt  now  for 
the  first  time  since  our  disagreeable  neighbors  had  come 
on  the  island  that  the  game  was  once  more  in  our 
hands. 

About  one  o'clock  the  boat  of  the  Millwards  hove  in 
sight,  and  knowing  he  would  have  his  glass  bearing  on 


THE   CAPTAIN'S  FATE.  279 

me  I  stood  up  in  the  stern  sheets  that  he  might  plainly 
see  all  was  right.  By  three  o'clock  we  were  once  more 
together,  and  all  three  boats  at  anchor,  in  plain  sight  of 
the  Indians  on  the  rock,  who  exhibited  the  utmost  ex- 
citement when  they  saw  me  towing  up  their  sloop.  In 
a  little  while  afterward  the  negro  and  the  Chinaman 
came  up  to  the  beach  and  joined  the  rest  of  their  party. 

Having  no  fear  now  of  firearms,  we  had  brought  all 
the  boats  to  anchor  much  nearer  the  shore,  so  that  we 
were  now  in  easy  hailing  distance  of  the  shore  party. 
After  a  talk  with  his  companions  the  negro  came  out 
alone  to  the  nearest  point  on  the  rocks  and  called  to  us 
in  "  darky  "  English.  When  I  had  answered  his  hail,  he 
said  "  Wharfor  you  done  tek  our  boat,  boss?  How  you 
reckon  we  kin  git  off  dis  hyar  island  with  no  boat  ?  " 

"  Do  you  want  to  leave  the  island?  "  said  I. 

"  Yes  boss,  de  captain  's  dead,  eat  up  by  shark.  We 
don't  want  to  stay  hyar  no  longer.  Fore  de  Lawd,  I 
speak  true." 

"Tell  the  rest  to  come  where  you  are,''  said  I. 

When  they  had  all  gathered  there  and  stood  in  a 
row,  I  asked  them  in  Spanish  if  they  wanted  to  go,  and 
they  all  began  to  speak  at  once.  Then  I  motioned  for 
silence,  and  bade  them  each  to  speak  in  turn,  the  right- 
hand  man  first,  who  happened  to  be  the  Chinaman. 
He  wanted  to  go,  and  one  after  another  they  said  the 
same. 

"  If  I  let  you  have  the  boat  will  you  sail  straight 
away,  and  leave  here  for  good  and  all?  " 

To  this  they  all  assented  except  the  negro,  who  said 
they  wanted  to  go  to  the  cove  to  get  the  things  left 
there.  There  could  be  no  objection  to  that,  if  they  did 
not  stay  longer  than  was  necessary  to  embark  the  prop- 
erty, and  I  so  told  them.  Moreover,  they  would  need 
a  supply  of  water.  If  they  set  about  it  at  once  they 


28O  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

could  do  all  this  and  be  away  by  midnight,  as  there 
would  be  a  moon  to  light  them  on  the  way. 

Having  settled  this  to  our  mutual  satisfaction,  I  cut 
loose  the  yawl  that  it  might  drift  in,  and  directed  them 
to  come  on  and  get  their  vessel. 

The  alacrity  with  which  the  whole  party  tumbled  into 
the  yawl  was  sufficient  evidence  of  the  desperate  straits 
they  had  fancied  themselves  to  be  in,  at  the  prospect  of 
being  marooned  on  the  island.  Before  they  got  under 
way,  I  told  the  negro  that  if  they  chose  to  do  so  they 
might  delay  departure  until  the  next  day,  which  would 
give  them  more  time  to  make  proper  preparation  for 
their  voyage ;  but  that  they  must  be  under  way  before 
the  next  night.  He  agreed  to  this  and  said,  — 

"  Boss,  we  got  nothen  agin  you.  You  've  treated  us 
square,  and  we 's  mighty  glad  to  get  away." 

The  Chinaman  grinned  at  me  as  they  bore  away,  as 
though  he  felt  grateful  for  not  being  shot,  and  had  for- 
given the  blow  below  the  belt.  The  Indians  sat  stol- 
idly silent,  but  I  felt  surer  of  them  than  of  either  of  the 
others. 

As  soon  as  they  had  sailed  we  brought  the  boats  to 
the  shore,  in  the  sheltered  nook  I  have  before  men- 
tioned, and  unloaded  the  pumping-apparatus  before 
nightfall,  to  be  ready  to  set  it  up  in  the  morning. 

That  night  we  slept  on  board  the  boat,  but  kept  a 
watch  all  night.  I  turned  in  immediately  after  sun- 
down and  slept  until  one  o'clock.  Then  Mr.  Millward 
wakened  me  and  I  kept  watch  until  five  o'clock,  after 
which  Alice  watched  for  the  two  hours  we  both  contin- 
ued to  sleep.  There  were  no  signs  of  the  other  party 
during  the  night.  And  I  may  state  here,  to  avoid  rep- 
etition, that  they  put  off  in  their  boat  about  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  and  before  sunset  were  out 
of  sight  in  the  western  board. 


THE   CAPTAIN'S  FATE.  28 1 

It  took  us  all  that  day  to  set  up  the  pumping-ma- 
chine  and  get  it  into  working  order,  in  addition  to  the 
slight  task  of  setting  up  a  sail  on  the  sand  for  a  tent  in 
which  to  sleep. 

We  had  suffered  so  many  set-backs  now  in  regard  to 
the  galleon  that  we  all  felt  like  crowding  the  work  to 
our  utmost,  for  fear  something  new  might  turn  up. 
I  could  not  help  feeling  that  the  pearl-fishing  gang,  as 
soon  as  they  could  reach  port  and  procure  firearms, 
might  take  it  into  their  heads  to  return  for  the  spoils 
that  they  must  expect  would  be  found  in  the  wreck. 
We  could  not  hope,  therefore,  to  feel  entirely  secure  for 
longer  than  ten  days. 

When  the  pearl-fishers  sailed  we  observed  them  with 
the  glass  and  noted  that  the  whole  party  was  on  board ; 
therefore  we  should  not  need  to  keep  a  watch  for  the 
present.  That  night,  tired  out,  I  slept  soundly,  but  was 
troubled  with  dreams  about  the  galleon.  For  example, 
I  dreamed  that  we  had  emptied  her  hold  completely  and 
found  nothing  in  it  but  a  sealed  jar,  which  upon  open- 
ing we  found  to  contain  a  dirty  visiting-card,  on  which 
was  written,  "  I  raised  this  galleon  in  1830  and  took  out 
all  her  contents.  This  is  for  the  benefit  of  the  next 
man  who  tries  it.  Please  let  her  sink  again." 

This,  absurd  as  it  was,  when  added  to  the  real  un- 
certainty and  natural  anxiety  I  felt  contributed  not  a 
little  to  my  discomfort.  I  could  not  help  anticipating  a 
possible  disappointment.  But  then  reason  told  me 
plainly  that  the  probabilities  were  all  the  other  way. 
Still,  there  was  the  ever  recurring  thought,  "What  it 
there  should  prove  to  be  no  treasure  ?  " 

The  next  day  Mr.  Millward  and  I  began  the  pump- 
ing business  in  earnest.  Of  course  I  was  able  to  keep 
much  longer  at  it  than  he,  and  his  share  amounted  to 
little  more  than  to  spell  me  occasionally  for  a  short 


282  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

time.  Since  that  leg-aching  and  back-breaking  ex- 
perience, kept  up  for  four  days,  I  never  can  see  a  horse 
in  a  treadmill  without  a  gush  of  sympathy.  On  the 
fourth  day  the  water  was  so  low  that  the  shark 
was  almost  aground,  and  I  put  two  loads  of  buckshot 
into  the  living  grave  of  Captain  Senlis,  whereupon  it 
succumbed,  and  left  the  galleon  unguarded. 

By  night  of  this  fourth  day  the  basin  was  pumped  out 
sufficiently,  and  the  galleon  lay  almost  completely  ex- 
posed, the  water  inside  of  her  still  leaking  out  slowly. 
Completely  exhausted  we  went  to  bed  early  and  left  her 
to  drain  as  she  might.  Human  nature  could  endure  no 
more.  I  was  so  exhausted  that  I  went  supperless  to 
bed,  and  consequently  woke  early  in  the  morning  hun- 
gry as  a  hunter.  While  the  others  still  slept  I  raked  the 
embers  together,  built  up  the  fire  and  put  the  coffee  on 
to  boil.  I  then  roused  my  companions,  and  we  were 
soon  at  breakfast  discussing  the  probabilities  of  finding 
anything  in  the  old  hulk.  At  last  the  day  had  come 
around  for  which  we  had  toiled  and  waited  so  long. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

TREASURE   TROVE. 

IT  would  be  impossible  to  convey  to  another  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  feelings  I  experienced  when  I  clam- 
bered for  the  first  time  upon  the  deck  of  the  old  galleon. 
Alice  and  her  father  stood  on  the  rocks  as  I  advanced 
along  the  shell-incrusted  structure,  axe  in  hand,  to  the 
raised  cabin  or  poop.  I  struck  the  cemented  door 
with  the  axe  several  blows,  until  it  broke  and  fell  in  with 
a  crash.  Then  there  came  up  a  damp  sea-smell  from  a 
dark,  cavernous  interior,  into  which  here  and  there 
penetrated  a  narrow  beam  of  light  from  small  crevices 
and  openings  above.  I  was  about  to  break  in  the  win- 
dow containing  the  iridescent  pane  of  milky  glass,  when 
Alice  called  to  me  to  spare  it,  if  possible,  for  its  exceed- 
ing beauty.  So  I  dashed  my  axe  through  all  the  other 
incrusted  openings,  and  let  in  a  flood  of  light  and  fresh 
air  to  the  long  sunken  apartment.  Mr.  Millward 
cautioned  me  to  beware  of  foul  air  and  gases ;  but  the 
caution  was  needless,  the  air  was  pure  and  sweet  and 
impregnated  only  with  an  odor  such  as  a  receding  tide 
leaves  behind.  Testing  it  cautiously  at  first,  I  soon  felt 
that  it  was  safe,  and  entered  the  cabin,  the  floor  of 
which  was  flush  with  the  deck  on  which  I  stood. 

On  either  hand  were  berths,  the  doors  of  some  of 
which  were  closed,  and  some  fallen  open.  Within  the 
berths  I  found  the  usual  bunks,  and  looked  with  dread 
for  ghastly  memorials  of  those  who  once  occupied  them. 
But  if  there  had  been  skeletons  there  at  one  time,  the 


284  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

bones  were  long  since  dissolved  and  gone  ;  not  a  trace 
was  left.  All  about  were  remains  of  sea  organisms  of 
various  kinds,  animal  and  vegetable,  which  had  lived  and 
flourished  here  in  the  dark  deep  under  the  sea.  I  could 
note  here  and  there  heaps  indicating  the  decayed  or 
covered  remains  of  the  furniture.  A  glass  decanter  and 
several  goblets  stood  encrusted  and  cemented  to  what 
had  once  been  a  table.  It  was  a  strange  sight,  never  to 
be  forgotten. 

With  the  axe  I  went  about  and  stove  in  one  after  an- 
other all  the  doors,  except  one  which  resisted  my  efforts. 
This  door  was  made  stronger  than  the  others,  and  was 
banded  and  barred  with  iron  much  rusted,  and  in  places 
so  oxidized  as  to  be  mere  streaks  and  stains  of  rust.  I 
inferred  that  here  was  the  strong-room  of  the  ship,  and 
doubtless  within  its  precincts  would  be  found  whatever  of 
treasure  the  galleon  contained.  I  reserved  the  opening 
of  this  apartment,  which  was  located  at  the  port  side  of 
the  rudder,  until  my  companions  should  be  present  to 
share  with  me  the  pleasure  or  disappointment  that  might 
result  from  a  disclosure  of  its  contents.  Having  done 
this  much  I  returned  on  deck  and  announced  the 
result  of  my  investigations,  and  that  I  wanted  all  to  be 
present  at  the  opening  of  the  treasure  chamber. 

The  old  man  waded  to  the  vessel  as  I  had  done,  and 
I  took  Alice  in  my  arms  and  carried  her,  helping  her  up 
to  a  footing  on  the  deck.  Duke,  not  to  be  left  behind, 
came  plunging  in  and  swam  to  the  side,  following  his 
mistress,  and  I  helped  him  also  on  board.  Then  we  all 
entered  the  cabin,  and  I  began  at  the  door  with  the  axe. 
At  the  second  blow  the  blade  went  through  near  the 
bottom  of  the  door,  and  out  gushed  a  stream  of  water 
which  poured  down  the  slanting  cabin-floor,  draining 
away  into  one  of  the  berths.  I  enlarged  this  opening 
until  the  confined  water  flowed  more  freely,  and  then 


TREASURE    TROVE.  285 

we  waited  until  it  had  drained  out  and  ceased  to  flow. 
I  wished  very  much  for  the  crowbar  that  I  had  seen  in 
the  hands  of  our  departed  neighbors,  but  it  had  gone 
with  them,  and  so  I  was  fain  to  continue  the  work  with 
the  axe.  Little  by  little  the  barrier  was  completely  de- 
molished and  the  chamber  lay  open  before  us. 

There  upon  the  floor  was  a  great  heap  of  something 
half  filling  the  room.  With  the  axe  I  struck  into  it,  and 
there  shone  out  the  yellow  lustre  of  gold.  Mingled  with 
a  black,  oxidized  mass  of  silver,  all  glued  together,  were 
great  bars  or  bricks  of  the  pure,  indestructible,  untar- 
nishable,  precious  metal,  unchanged  by  all  the  time  it 
had  lain  sunken  beneath  the  waters.  It  shone  with  the 
same  dull  yellow  that  it  had  given  back  to  the  light  so 
long  ago.  Iron  might  rust,  the  bolts  and  bars  might 
dissolve  and  fall  away ;  the  inferior  silver  might  blacken, 
soften,  and  change  ;  but  the  noble  gold  was  proof  against 
time,  and  against  the  insidious  tooth  of  the  bromides, 
the  chlorides,  and  iodides,  and  all  the  other  salts  that 
the  sea  held  in  solution  in  its  mighty  waters.  A  simul- 
taneous cry  of  delight  from  all  went  up  at  the  sight.  I 
clasped  my  darling  close  in  my  arms  and  kissed  her 
sweet  lips. 

"  See,"  cried  I,  "  the  gold  !  That  means  a  home  for 
us,  my  queen  !  It  means  the  redemption  of  the  hflls  and 
valleys,  the  woodland  and  fields  where  I  was  born,  and 
where  you  shall  rule,  sweetheart !  " 

"It  means  very  much  to  us,  my  son,"  said  the  old 
man ;  "  it  is  at  once  your  fortune  and  my  daughter's 
dowry.  Think  of  the  good  that  can  be  done  in  the 
world  by  a  proper  use  of  this  treasure  which  will  be  en- 
trusted to  your  care  and  stewardship." 

Duke  came  up  and  sniffed  suspiciously  at  the  pile, 
and  turned  away  as  though  disgusted  at  the  whole 
business,  and  the  exceeding  bad  taste  of  his  friends. 


286  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

While  I  had  been  chopping  at  the  door  the  dog  was  in 
the  greatest  state  of  excitement,  expecting  no  doubt  that 
some  sort  of  game  would  be  unearthed.  But  as  it 
proved,  nothing  came  forth,  not  even  a  chipmunk,  and 
not  even  the  stale  scent  of  one.  We  all  happened  to  be 
looking  at  this  display  of  canine  wisdom,  which  was 
so  significant  and  so  complete  a  commentary  on  the 
artificial  character  of  the  value  pertaining  to  what  we 
had  found,  that  the  effect  was  irresistible.  We  all 
burst  into  merry  laughter,  peal  on  peal,  till  the  cabin  of 
the  old  craft  rang  with  such  a  burst  of  hilarity,  echoing 
through  its  cavernous  recesses,  as  it  had  not  heard  for 
centuries  if  ever  before. 

Now  that  the  gold  was  found  I  was  in  a  state  of 
feverish  anxiety  to  get  it  out  of  the  galleon.  It  seemed 
as  though  misfortune  hung  over  us  in  the  cloudless  sky. 
I  could  not  hasten  fast  enough.  The  minutes  seemed 
hours.  A  great  dread  was  upon  me.  I  could  not  have 
slept  while  the  treasure  remained  where  it  lay.  To  my 
excited  brain  and  wrought-up  imagination  it  seemed  that 
the  very  ghosts  of  those  who  once  owned  the  gold  would 
come  to  claim  it.  Though  it  would  be  days  before  the 
pearl-fishers  could  get  back,  I  could  not  avoid  casting 
anxious  glances  toward  the  western  horizon.  Mr.  Mill- 
ward  appeared  to  partake  in  some  degree  of  this  same 
anxious  condition  of  mind.  I  am  certain  no  two  men 
ever  worked  more  freely  up  to  the  extent  of  their  physi- 
cal abilities  than  we  did  that  day.  We  loosened  up  and 
carried  to  Mr.  Millward's  boat  the  whole  of  the  precious 
metal,  more  than  a  ton  in  weight  including  the  gold  and 
silver  together,  and  stowed  it  on  a  layer  of  canvas  where 
it  might  serve  as  ballast,  clearing  out  the  ballast  that  was 
already  there,  and  covered  it  over  with  the  sail  cloth  of 
the  tent,  and  over  that  a  layer  of  sand  to  conceal  it  all. 

That  night  we  slept  on  board  the  boat,  and  we  be- 


TREASURE    TROVE.  287 

gan  to  feel  the  anxious  care  of  the  charge  that  wealth 
brings.  I  got  little  sleep,  and  was  restless,  and  up  and 
down  all  night.  In  the  morning  we  began  and  con- 
tinued until  late  in  the  afternoon  a  systematic  examina- 
tion of  the  entire  interior  of  the  galleon,  searching  for 
more  treasure,  but  we  found  nothing,  and  brought  nothing 
more  away  from  the  wreck  except  the  pane  of  glass,  and 
the  decanter  ana  goblets  which  I,  for  souvenirs,  removed 
at  Alice's  request. 

There  was  nothing  more  to  keep  us  on  the  island ; 
the  weather  was  fair  and  settled,  the  wind  was  favorable, 
and  we  might  have  started  that  night,  but  Mr.  Millward 
thought  it  would  be  wise  to  provision  the  boat  better 
and  renew  our  water.  Moreover,  Alice  expressed  a 
wish  to  visit  once  more  our  house  that  we  might  bid 
farewell  to  scenes  which  we  might  never  revisit.  We 
therefore  sailed  for  Home  Creek  in  the  sloop,  leaving 
my  boat  behind  me  as  we  should  have  no  further  occa- 
sion for  it.  We  reached  the  creek  an  hour  before  sun- 
set, and  moored  the  boat  in  her  old  snug  place.  Noth- 
ing at  the  house  had  been  disturbed.  By  the  level  rays 
of  the  sun  as  he  was  about  to  sink  behind  the  central 
plateau  of  the  island  I  lit  a  fire,  and  soon  we  had  one 
started  in  the  oven  as  well.  Then  began  the  roasting, 
baking,  and  boiling,  of  pork  and  beans,  bread,  yams, 
potatoes,  coffee,  and  whatever  we  had  in  store.  It  was 
midnight  before  we  completed  our  task  and  went  to 
bed. 

Alice  and  her  father  slept  at  the  house,  and  I  made 
my  bed  in  the  boat,  the  gun  by  my  side,  and  Duke 
curled  up  at  my  head. 

The  last  day  on  the  island  dawned  clear  and  bright ; 
the  blue  sky  unflecked  by  a  single  cloud  hung  high 
above ;  the  favorable  wind  that  we  had  sighed  for  in 
vain  at  times  was  gently  rustling  through  the  foliage  and 


288  THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

swaying  the  graceful  palms  ;  the  myriad  voices  of  Nature 
sounded  all  about  in  the  song  of  bird  and  hum  of  insect 
and  boom  of  surf.  When  I  rose  to  greet  the  day  I 
saw  Alice  standing  on  the  porch  in  the  full  sunlight, 
looking  out  at  the  sea  all  glistening  as  it  was  with 
light  from  a  million  facets.  Presently  Mr.  Millward 
came  out,  his  white  head  bare  and  his  commanding 
figure  erect  and  unbowed  by  years.  They  stood  to- 
gether thus  when  I  came  up  and  joined  the  group. 

There  was  little  to  do  before  we  left.  Our  breakfast, 
for  which  we  did  not  light  a  fire,  was  soon  over.  Then 
we  loaded  on  our  provisions,  emptied  and  re-filled  our 
water-gourds  for  the  voyage,  stored  them,  and  were 
ready  to  go.  I  dug  up  my  pearls  from  their  place  of 
concealment.  Alice  went  into  the  house  and  brought 
out  my  nautilus-shell  from  the  mantel.  We  would  leave 
all  else  as  it  was  for  the  benefit  possibly  of  some  ship- 
wrecked successor,  and  carry  away  only  what  we  needed 
for  our  use  upon  the  voyage. 

Then  together  we  three,  followed  by  the  faithful 
Duke,  made  a  round  of  visits  to  the  various  familiar 
places,  —  the  salt-pan,  incrusted  now  with  white  salt ;  the 
shed,  beneath  whose  shade  we  had  toiled  so  hard  and 
passed  so  many  pleasant  hours ;  the  house,  the  oven, 
the  garden,  now  luxuriant  in  its  rich  abundance  of 
growth  ;  the  cocoanut  grove,  —  and  to  all  bade  a  silent 
farewell.  At  the  last,  with  tears  in  her  sweet  eyes, 
Alice  begged  that  I  would  walk  with  her  down  the 
beach  and  sit  upon  the  rock  by  the  seaside  as  we  had 
done  once  before  in  a  time  that  now  seemed  so  long 
ago.  When  we  reached  the  rock  she  put  her  arms 
about  my  neck  and  said,  "  It  was  here  I  first  knew  I 
loved  you,  dear.  I  could  not  go  away  without  coming 
here  with  you  to  say  good-by  to  the  dear  old  island." 

Ah  !  fair  Key  Seven,  good-by,  good-by.     How  much 


TREASURE    TROVE.  289 

of  happiness  do  I  owe  your  friendly  shores.  Shine  forth 
a  gem  of  the  sea.  Smile  ever  in  my  remembrance  as 
on  that  fair  morning  when,  clad  in  all  your  loveliness,  my 
bride  and  I  bade  farewell  to  your  palms  and  sands  and 
groves  and  streams,  and  listened  for  the  last  time  to  the 
chorus  of  your  birds.  Farewell,  farewell.  May  we  hope 
some  day  to  come  and  visit  these  scenes  again,  and 
open  once  more  the  gates  of  this  earthly  paradise  be- 
fore we  pass  through  the  valley  that  leads  us  to  the 
final  home. 

It  was  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  we  embarked 
and  set  sail  from  Key  Seven  bound  for  Martinique,  a 
fair  wind  wafting  us  over  the  sea,  the  tinkling  water  at 
the  bow  and  the  broad  wake  behind  speaking  well  for 
the  good  speed  we  made.  By  two  o'clock  the  island 
hung  a  trembling,  hazy,  blue  cloud  in  the  west.  We 
looked  at  it  with  regret  filled  with  sweet  remembrance, 
as  it  sunk  lower  and  lower  and  finally,  fading  away  out 
of  sight,  was  gone  from  our  view. 

The  run  to  Martinique  was  wholly  uneventful,  though 
it  took  us  four  days  to  reach  port,  owing  to  the  light 
winds.  Throughout  the  voyage  Mr.  Millward  and  I 
took  turns  at  the  helm,  steering  by  the  compass.  Not 
a  single  sail  was  sighted,  and  we  drew  into  the  old  pier 
just  four  hours  before  the  steamer  bound  for  New  York 
made  the  port  and  tied  up  to  the  same  pier. 

Mr.  Millward  went  at  once  to  the  captain  of  the 
newly  arrived  vessel  and  related  enough  of  our  story  to 
apprise  him  of  the  nature  of  our  cargo,  and  the  desire 
we  had  to  get  to  New  York  with  it  as  soon  as  possible. 
The  captain,  a  New  Bedford  man,  came  back  with  Mr. 
Millward  to  the  boat,  and  we  then  arranged  for  our 
passage  and  the  safe  carriage  of  our  treasure.  The 
latter  was  stowed  in  canvas  bags  and  sealed  and 
weighed  under  our  supervision,  and  carried  on  board 

19 


THE  SPANISH  GALLEON. 

the  steamer.  Then  my  heart  grew  lighter  as  the  care  of 
the  treasure  was  lifted  from  my  mind.  We  secured 
ample  insurance  from  the  local  underwriter,  made  ar- 
rangements that  the  sloop  should  be  sold  and  the 
proceeds  sent  to  some  of  Mr.  Millward's  old  parishioners 
in  Jamaica,  and  then,  just  as  the  sun  was  setting, 
embarked  for  New  York  and  home. 

My  story  is  done,  for  all  our  trials  and  labors  and 
troubles  were  then  over.  Now  we  may  ring  the  curtain 
down.  But  before  it  descends  I  may  invite  you  to  look 
at  the  last  tableau. 

It  is  a  summer's  day.  The  dust  lies  thick  on  the 
shady  road.  The  katydid  rasps  its  musical  wing  in  the 
tall  elms  which  shade  an  old  farmhouse.  On  the  porch, 
enjoying  the  faint  breath  of  the  evening  air  that  comes 
gently  over  the  fields  of  yellow  grain,  and  through  the 
orchard  where  the  home-returning  cows  have  stopped  a 
moment,  is  a  group  consisting  of  a  white-haired  old 
man,  who  smokes  his  pipe  in  quiet  comfort,  a  young 
man,  and  a  beautiful  young  woman,  at  whose  feet  lies  a 
noble  Gordon  setter.  It  is  the  party  whose  story  you 
have  followed.  This  farmhouse  and  these  broad  acres 
have  been  redeemed  with  long  sunken  Spanish  gold.  It 
is  a  loving  and  a  happy  party,  whose  hearts  beat  kindly 
for  each  other  and  for  all. 

The  old  man  speaks  :  — 

"  My  children,  to-day  is  the  anniversary  of  our  de- 
parture from  Key  Seven.  Let  us  thank  God  for  all  the 
good  gifts  that  have  come  to  us  from  THE  SPANISH 
GALLEON." 

THE   END. 


THE  BRIDGE  OF  THE  GODS. 

A  ROMANCE  OF  INDIAN  OREGON, 
By  F.  H.  BALCH. 

X2mo,  280  pages.     Price,  $1.23. 


THIS  is  a  masterly  and  original  delineation  of  Indian  life.  It 
is  a  strong  story,  charged  with  the  elemental  forces  of  the  human 
heart.  The  author  portrays  with  unusual  power  the  intense,  stern 
piety  of  the  ministers  of  colonial  New  England,  and  the  strange 
mingling  of  dignity,  superstition,  ferocity,  and  stoicism  that  char- 
acterized the  early  Indian  warriors. 

There  is  no  need  of  romancing,  and  Mr.  Balch's  scenic  descrip- 
tions are  for  all  practical  purposes  real  descriptions.  The  legends 
he  relates  of  the  great  bridge  which  once  spanned  the  Columbia, 
for  which  there  is  some  substantial  history,  adds  to  the  mystical 
charms  of  the  story.  His  Indian  characters  are  as  real  as  if  photo- 
graphed from  life.  No  writer  has  presented  a  finer  character  than 
the  great  chief  of  the  Willamettes,  Multnomah ;  Snoqualmie  the 
Cayuse ;  or  Tohomish  the  Seer.  The  night  visit  of  Multnomah  to 
the  tomb  of  his  dead  wife  upon  that  lonely  island  in  the  Willam- 
ette is  a  picture  that  will  forever  live  in  the  reader's  memory.  .  .  . 
To  those  who  have  traversed  the  ground,  and  know  something  of 
Indian  character  and  the  wild,  free  life  of  pioneer  days,  the  story 
will  be  charming  — Inter-Ocean,  Chicago. 

It  is  a  truthful  and  realistic  picture  of  the  powerful  Indian  tribes 
that  inhabited  the  Oregon  country  two  centuries  ago.  ...  It  is  a 
book  that  will  be  of  value  as  a  historical  authority  ;  and  as  a  story 
rf  interest  and  charm,  there  are  few  novels  that  can  rival  it.  — 
Traveller,  Boston. 

There  is  much  and  deep  insight  in  this  book.  The  characters 
stand  in  clear  outline,  and  are  original.  The  movement  of  the 
story  is  quick  and  varied,  like  the  running  water  of  the  great  river. 
—  The  Pacific,  San  Francisco. 

Its  field  is  new  for  fiction  ;  it  is  obviously  the  work  of  one  who 
has  bestowed  a  great  deal  of  study  on  the  subjects  he  would  illus- 
trate. It  is  very  interesting  reading,  fluently  written.  —  Times, 
Chicago 

Sold  by  all  booksellers,  or  mailed,  on  receipt  of  price,  by 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 

COR  WABASH  AVE.  AND  MADISON  ST.,  CHICAGO. 


THE    BEVERLEYS. 

A  Story  of  Calcutta. 

BY   MARY   ABBOTT, 

Author  of  "Alexia,"  etc. 

I2tno,  264  pages.     Price,  $1.25. 


THE  uncommonly  favoieable  reception  of  Mrs.  Abbott's  brilliant 
novelette,  "  Alexia,"  by  the  public  bespeaks  in  advance  a  lively 
interest  in  her  new  novel,  "  The  Beverleys."  It  is  a  more  extended 
and  ambitious  work  than  the  former,  but  has  the  same  grace  of  style 
and  liveliness  of  treatment,  together  with  a  much  more  considerable 
plot  and  more  subtle  delineations  of  character  and  life.  The  action 
of  the  story  takes  place  in  India,  and  reveals  on  the  part  of  the 
authoress  the  most  intimate  knowledge  of  the  official  life  of  the 
large  and  aristocratic  English  colony  in  Calcutta.  The  local  color- 
ing is  strong  and,  unusual. 

A  more  joyous  story  cannot  be  imagined.  ...  A  harum-scarum 
good-nature;  a  frank  pursuit  of  cakes  and  ale;  a  heedless,  happy- 
go-lucky  spirit,  are  admirable  components  in  a  novel,  however  trying 
they  may  be  found  in  the  walks  of  daily  life.  Such  are  the  pleas- 
ures of  "The  Beverleys."  To  read  it  is  recreation,  indeed. — 
Pttblic  Ledger,  Philadelphia. 

The  author  writes  throughout  with  good  taste,  and  with  a  quick 
eye  for  the  picturesque.  —  Herald,  New  York. 

It  is  a  pretty  story,  charmingly  written,  with  cleverly  sketched 
pictures  of  various  types  of  character  .  .  .  The  book  abounds  in 
keen,  incisive  philosophy,  wrapped  up  in  characteristic  remarks.  — 
Times,  Chicago 

An  absorbing  story.  It  is  brilliantly  and  vivaciously  written.  — 
Literary  World,  Boston. 

The  author  has  until  now  been  known,  so  far  as  we  are  aware, 
only  by  her  former  story,  "  Alexia."  Unless  signs  fail  which  sel- 
dom do  fail,  these  two  with  which  her  name  is  now  associated  are 
simply  the  forerunners  of  works  in  a  like  vein  of  which  American 
''terature  will  have  reason  to  be  proud.  —  Standard,  Chicago. 


Sold  by  all  booksellers,  or  mailed,  on  receipt  of  price,  by 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 

COR.  WABASH  AVE.  AND  MADISON  ST.,  CHICAGO. 


MARTHA   COREY. 

A  TALE  OF  THE  SALEM  WITCHCRAFT. 

By  CONSTANCE  GODDARD  DU  Bois. 

ismo,  314  pages.    Price,  $1.25. 


THE  same  material  drawn  upon  by  Longfellow  for  his  "  New 
England  Tragedies"  is  here  used  with  greater  fulness  and  with  no 
less  historical  exactitude.  The  story  has  for  its  background  the 
dark  and  gloomy  pictures  of  the  witchcraft  persecution,  of  which  it 
furnishes  a  thrilling  view.  It  is  remarkable  for  bold  imagination, 
wonderfully  rapid  action,  and  continued  and  absorbing  interest. 

In  short,  it  is  too  good  a  piece  of  fiction  to  be  accepted  as 
truth,  which  is  to  the  credit  of  the  author's  imaginative  powers; 
for  "  Martha  Corey  "  is  an  absorbing  tale.  —  Public  Ledger, 
Philadelphia. 

The  story  is  curious  and  quaint,  differing  totally  from  the 
novels  of  this  day ;  and  the  pictures  of  life  among  the  early  in- 
habitants of  Massachusetts  show  that  the  author  has  been  an 
untiring  and  faithful  student  for  her  work.  —  Weekly  Item,  Phila- 
delphia. 

The  characters  are  well  delineated ;  the  language  is  smooth  and 
refined ;  and  from  frequent  change  of  scene  and  character  the  book 
is  rendered  very  entertaining.  The  passions,  love  and  hate,  are 
carefully  analyzed  and  faithfully  described.  It  is  a  valuable  little 
book.  —  Globe,  Chicago. 

An  interesting  tale  of  love  and  intrigue.  .  .  .  Miss  Du  Bois 
has  given  us  a  very  readable  book,  and  has  succeeded  where  others 
have  failed.  —  Advertiser,  Boston. 

The  story  of  this  book  is  pleasantly  told :  and  as  a  picture  of 
those  sad  times,  when  some  of  the  worst  and  the  best,  of  the  dark- 
est and  the  brightest,  of  the  most  hateful  and  the  most  lovable 
traits  of  human  nature  were  openly  manifested,  is  well  worth 
reading.  —  Illustrated  Christian  Weekly,  New  York. 

A  story  of  marked  strength,  both  of  imagination  and  narration. 
—  Home  Journal,  New  York. 


Sold  by  all  booksellers,  or  mailed,  on  receipt  of  price,  by 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 

COR.  WABASH  AVE.  AND  MADISON  ST.,  CHICAGO 


MONK  AND  KNIGHT. 

&n  Historical  Stutig  m  jHcttmt. 
BY  THE  REV.  DR.  F.  W.  GUNSAULUS. 

Two  Vols.    izmo,  707  pages.    Price,  $2.50. 


This  work  is  one  that  challenges  attention  for  its  ambitious 
character  and  its  high  aim.  It  is  an  historical  novel,  —  or,  rather, 
as  the  author  prefers  to  call  it,  "An  Historical  Study  in  Fiction." 
It  is  the  result  of  long  and  careful  study  of  the  period  of  which  it 
treats,  and  hence  is  the  product  of  genuine  sympathies  and  a 
freshly-fired  imagination.  The  field  is  Europe,  and  the  period  is 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  —  a  time  when  the  fading 
glow  of  the  later  Renaissance  is  giving  place  to  the  brighter  glories 
of  the  dawning  Reformation. 

The  book  deals,  in  a  broad  sense,  with  the  grand  theme  of  the 
progress  of  intellectual  liberty.  Many  of  its  characters  are  well- 
known  historical  personages,  —  such  as  Erasmus,  Sir  Thomas 
More,  Cardinal  Wolsey,  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  Francis  I.  of 
France,  the  disturbing  monk  Martin  Luther,  and  the  magnificent 
Pope  Leo  X.;  other  characters  are  of  course  fictitious,  introduced 
to  give  proper  play  to  the  author's  fancy  and  to  form  a  suitable 
framework  for  the  story. 

Interwoven  with  the  more  solid  fabric  are  gleaming  threads  of 
romance-,  and  bright  bits  of  description  and  glows  of  sentiment 
relieve  the  more  sombre  coloring.  The  memorable  meeting  of  the 
French  and  English  monarchs  on  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold, 
with  its  gorgeous  pageantry  of  knights  and  steeds  and  silken  ban- 
ners, and  all  the  glitter  and  charm  of  chivalry,  furnish  material  for 
several  chapters,  in  which  the  author's  descriptive  powers  are  put 
to  the  severest  test ;  while  the  Waldensian  heroes  in  their  mountain 
homes,  resisting  the  persecutions  of  their  religious  foes,  afford 
some  thrilling  and  dramatic  situations. 


Sold  by  all  booksellers,  or  mailed,  on  receipt  of  price,  by 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 

COR.  WABASH  AVE.  AND  MADISON  ST.,  CHICAGO. 


THE    STORY   OF   TONTY. 

AN    HISTORICAL    ROMANCE. 

By  Mrs.  MARY  HARTWELL  CATHERWOOD. 
I2mo,  224  pages.     Price,  $1.25. 


'  The  Story  of  Tonty  "  is  eminently  a  Western  story,  beginning 
at  Montreal,  tarrying  at  Fort  Frontenac,  and  ending  at  the  old  fort 
at  Starved  Rock,  on  the  Illinois  River.  It  weaves  the  adventures 
of  the  two  great  explorers,  the  intrepid  La  Salle  and  his  faithful 
lieutenant,  Tonty,  into  a  tale  as  thrilling  and  romantic  as  the  de- 
scriptive portions  are  brilliant  and  vivid.  It  is  superbly  illustrated 
with  twenty-three  masterly  drawings  by  Mr.  Enoch  Ward. 

Such  tales  as  this  render  service  past  expression  to  the  cause  of  his- 
tory. They  weave  a  spell  in  which  old  chronicles  are  vivified  and  breathe 
out  human  life  Mrs.  Catherwood,  in  thus  bringing  out  from  the  treasure- 
houses  of  half- forgotten  historical  record  things  new  and  old,  has  set  her- 
self one  of  the  worthiest  literary  tasks  of  her  generation,  and  is  showing 
herself  finely  adequate  to  its  fulfilment.  —  Transcript,  Boston, 

A  powerful  story  by  a  writer  newly  sprung  to  fame.  -  .  .  All  the 
century  we  have  been  waiting  for  the  deft  hand  that  could  put  flesh  upon 
the  dry  bones  of  our  early  heroes.  Here  is  a  recreation  indeed.  .  .  .  One 
comes  from  the  reading  of  the  romance  with  a  quickened  interest  in  our 
early  national  history,  and  a  profound  admiration  for  the  art  that  can  so 
transport  us  to  the  dreamful  realms  where  fancy  is  monarch  of  fact.  — 
Press,  Philadelphia. 

"The  Story  of  Tonty"  is  full  of  the  atmosphere  of  its  time.  It 
betrays  an  intimate  and  sympathetic  knowledge  of  the  great  age  of  ex- 
plorers, and  it  is  altogether  a  charming  piece  of  work.  —  Christian 
Union,  New  York. 

Original  in  treatment,  in  subject,  and  in  all  the  details  of  mist  en 
scene,  it  must  stand  uuique  among  recent  romances.  —  News,  Chicago. 


Sold  by  all  booksellers,  or  mailed,  on  receipt  of  price,  by 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &   CO  ,  PUBLISHERS, 

COR.  WABASH  AVE.  AND  MADISON  ST.,  CHICAGO. 


THE  LAUREL-CROWNED  LETTERS. 


The  Best  Letters   of  Lord  Chesterfield.      Edited,  with  an 
Introduction,  by  EDWARD  GILPIN  JOHNSON. 

The  Best  Letters  of  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu.     Edited, 
with  an  Introduction,  by  OCTAVE  THANET. 

The  Best  .Letters  of  Horace  Walpole.      Edited,  with  an 

Introduction,  by  ANNA  B.  MCMAHAN. 
The   Best  Letters   of  Madame  de   Sevigne.      Edited,  with 

an  Introduction,  by  EDWARD  PLAYFAIR  ANDERSON. 
Each  volume  is  finely  printed  and  bound ;    i6mo, 

cloth,  gilt  tops,  price,  $1.00. 

In  half  calf  or  half  morocco,  per  vol.,  $2.73. 


Of  LORD  CHESTERFIELD'S  LETTERS,  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  says :  — 

The  editor  seems  to  make  good  his  claims  to  have  treated  these 
letters  with  such  discrimination  as  to  render  the  book  really  ser- 
viceable, not  only  as  a  piece  of  literature,  but  as  a  text-book  in 
politeness. 

Of  LADY  MARY  WORTLEY  MONTAGU'S  LETTERS,  the 
New  York  Star  says :  — 

The  selection  is  indeed  an  excellent  one.  and  the  notes  by  the 
present  editor  considerably  enhance  their  value. 

Of  HORACE  WALPOLE'S  LETTERS,  the  Philadelphia  Public 
Ledger  says :  — 

These  witty  and  entertaining  letters  show  Walpole  to  bear  out 
the  promise  of  his  fame,  —  the  prince  of  letter-writers  in  an  age 
which  elevated  the  occupation  into  a  fine  art. 

Of  MADAME  DE  SEVIGNE'S  LETTERS,  the  Boston  Satur- 
day Gazette  says :  — 

Accomplished,  witty,  pure,  Madame  de  Sevigne's  noble  char- 
acter is  reflected  in  her  writings,  which  will  always  hold  a  foremost 
place  in  the  estimation  of  those  who  can  appreciate  high  moral  and 
intellectual  qualities. 

Sold  by  all  booksellers,  or  mailed,  on  receipt  of  price,  by 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 

COR.  WABASH  AVE.  AND  MADISON  ST.,  CHICAGO 


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